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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



b o 



AT THE THRESHOLD: 



FamiIicir L Talgs witl| Young C^nistians 



CONCERNING 



DOCTRINES AND DUTIES. 



BY 



REV. ROSS C. HOUGHTON, D. D., 

Author of "Women of the Orient," etc. 



_o<> o^-^o <> ~— 






CINCINNATI: 

WALDEN AND STOWE, 
NEW YORK: PHILLIPS & HUNT. 



^ 







Copyright by 

WALDEN & STOWE. 

1881. 






]Y[y Beloved Ctjildfen i:q tl\e C^o^pel, 

WITH AN EARNEST PRAYER 

THAT THEY MAY "KEEP THAT WHICH IS COMMITTED TO 
THEIR TRUST," 

®6is 3UttIt Volume 

IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. First Words, 5 

II. In the Church, 11 

III. Eepentance, 17 

IV. Faith, 24 

V. Conversion, 33 

VI. Conversion — Continued, 40 

VII. Concerning Growth, 48 

VIII. Entire Sanctification, 55 

IX. Prayer, 62 

X. Study of the Bible, 72 

XI. Social Life and Amusements, 81 

XII. Temptation, 91 

XIII. The Call to the Christian Ministry, . . . 101 

XIV. Fiction — Eules for Beading — The Eeligious 

Newspaper, Ill 

XV. Systematic Beneficence, 124 



AT THE THRESHOLD. 



dlikptef I. 

FIRST WORDS. 

" How can they live, how will they die, 
How bear the cross of grief, 
Who have not got the light of faith, 
The courage of belief?" — Faber. 

TN the city of Rome the traveler is shown a chamber, 
-*- the ceiling and walls and floor of which are fres- 
coed in the most irregular and fantastic manner. 
There seems to be no harmony, no unity of design in 
the strange conception of the artist. Bewildered and 
disappointed, you are about to turn away, w r hen the 
cicerone leads you to a particular point near one end 
of the saloon, and instantly your dissatisfaction gives 
place to a sensation of exquisite pleasure ; for, as you 
look, the grand design of the painter flashes at once 
upon you. The perspective is perfect, every line has 
a meaning, every panel has a place, every figure adds 
to the finish of the work. Instinctively you recognize 
the hand of a master, and yield yourself to the de- 
lightful influence of his genius. 

Human life is like that ancient chamber. To the 



6 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

uninstructed observer it is a scene of mystery and con- 
fusion; and, even if for a moment he catches a glimpse 
of order and beauty, one more flash of the varying 
light throws it all into hopeless disorder again. His- 
tory, science, philosophy, afford but little relief, even 
to the most devoted student. 

One is sure to miss the meaning of all that he is, 
and all that he sees, unless with a teachable spirit he 
permits the Divine Guide to lead him to the one 
stand-point whence God's real purpose in our creation 
may be discovered, and the glory of his design may 
be comprehended. Standing here, there is no more 
mystery ; no more confusion ; no more disappointment. 
Every thing has a complete and satisfactory meaning. 
All is light, and harmony, and beauty. 

Young Christian! You have now, for the first 
time, gained that focal point of correct observation— 
the stand-point of Christian faith. With all my heart 
I wish you joy, and bid you Godspeed; for now you 
have really begun to live, now you have really begun 
to learn. You feel your ignorance, you realize your 
inexperience in spiritual things; but you have chosen 
a skillful teacher — a safe counselor. 

You can never make any serious mistakes so long 
as you practically heed the instruction : ' ' If any of 
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to 
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be 
given him." 

If your experience is in any wise Scriptural, you are 
already conscious that God has called you to A new 



FIRST WORDS. 7 

life. The Holy Spirit has engaged in no work of re- 
modeling your former life. He has applied no moral 
varnish to cover the imperfections of your character. 
His work is more thorough, more radical, because it 
is divine. He has given you a new life ; he has called 
you to a new vision, and a new work. To worldly 
philosophy, something less than this might suffice; 
but God's philosophy of salvation involves just this: 
a new creation, a regeneration, the impartation of a 
new life. 

"A Scotch girl, converted under the preaching of 
Whitefield, being asked if her heart was changed, 
gave the following beautiful answer : ' Something, I 
know, is changed ; it may be the world, it may be 
my heart. There is a great change somewhere, I am 
sure, for every thing is different from what it once 
was.'" 

It is easy to see the radical difference between a 
mere moralist and a live Christian. Looking out of 
my study window one morning in the month of 
March, I saw a cherry tree covered from root to tall- 
est tip with sparkling ice. It was a beautiful sight ! 
How pure it looked ! Well, the moralist is like that 
tree: white, but cold. Negatively good; wearing, at 
best, an outside adornment. The true Christian is 
like the same tree when the real vital forces begin to 
act in the Spring and Summer time; first the green 
leaves, then the flowers, and lastly the fruit. A posi- 
tive goodness ! A true inner life, working out its 
permanent, satisfying results. His is not a beauty 



8 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

which, vanishes in a day; but a sturdy excellence 
which shall be eternal ! 

You might find a great deal of fault with him if 
you should try. He do n't set himself up as a model ; 
Christ is the model — what fault have you to find with 
Christ ? Sometimes this Christian's fruit is imperfect, 
and he shows the need of more culture ; but the right 
principle is at work ; there 's life in him, and if he 
holds on to Christ, he shall grow in grace, and in 
knowledge, and in worth. There's a new life in him; 
and, in due time, the world will get the benefit of it. 

Just how the Holy Spirit has operated in producing 
this change I can not tell ; you can not tell. You 
are the same individual you were before; but "old 
things are passed away; behold all things are become 
new." Your faculties are all innovated, so that they 
work harmoniously in fulfilling the true end of your 
being. It is enough for you to be fully conscious of 
the change itself; the hoiv of that change will prob- 
ably forever remain a mystery to you. 

For all that God hath wrought in you you ought 
devoutly to praise him; but let me remind you that 
your new life is just begun. It is to be a life of de- 
velopment ; a life fitly illustrated by our Lord's beau- 
tiful simile : " First the blade, then the ear, after that 
the full corn in the ear." The peculiar difficulties 
which are to aid in disciplining and developing you, 
are yet to be met. You have, also, a great work be- 
fore you, but a great poiver is pledged to your support. 
You will need clear conceptions of the world, of 



FIEST WOTIDS. 9 

the doctrines you have received, of the distinctive 
polity, of the Church you have chosen as your home, 
and of the duties and privileges of your new position. 

In the spirit of Christian love and sympathy I ex- 
tend to you a friendly hand ; and, in the following 
pages, shall aim to give you such particular counsel 
and instruction as a young Christian most needs; re- 
lying upon the Holy Spirit to remedy all defects, 
either in the matter or the manner of my work. 

The dew of the morning still rests upon your new 
life. The hour of your conversion has but just passed. 
Its unspeakable ecstasy still lingers in your soul. 
I rejoice with you. Let us pause together; and 
while, by the mysterious bonds of Christian fellow- 
ship, we are joined in spirit with one of God's glorified 
saints, let us sing : 

" There is a spot to me more clear 

Than native vale or mountain ; 
A spot for which affection's tear 

Springs grateful from its fountain ; 
'T is not where kindred souls abound, 

Though that were almost heaven ; 
But where I first my Savior found, 

And felt my sins forgiven. 

Hard was my toil to reach the shore, 

Long tossed upon the ocean ; 
Above me was the thunder's roar, 

Beneath the wave's commotion. 
Darkly the pall of night was thrown 

Around me, faint with terror ; 
In that dark hour how did my groan 

Ascend for years of error ! 



10 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

Sinking and panting as for breath, 

I knew not hope was near me ; 
I cried, save rne, Lord, from death ! 

Immortal Jesus, hear me ! 
Then quick as thought I felt him mine ; 

My Savior stood before me ; 
I saw his brightness round me shine, 

And shouted, Glory ! glory ! 

O sacred hour, hallowed spot, 

Where love divine first found me ! 
Wherever falls my distant lot, 

My heart will linger round thee ; 
And when from earth I rise to soar 

Up to my home in heaven, 
Down will I cast my eyes once more 

Where I was first forgiven." 

— Dr. William Hunter. 



IN THE CHUKCH. 11 



dilute* II. 

IN THE CHUKCH. 

"One family, we dwell in him, 
One Church above, beneath, 
Though now divided by the stream, 

The narrow stream of death. 
One army of the living God, 
To his command we bow; 
Part of his host have crossed the flood, 
And part are crossing now." 

— Charles Wesley. 

WHERE the Spirit of God is, there is the 
Church." The Church is perpetuated solely 
by the indwelling Spirit. Spiritual life and fellowship 
are primary and essential; outward organization is 
secondary. The organization is not the life, it is sim- 
ply a manifestation of the life; and its sole impor- 
tance is found in the fact that it promotes the spiritual 
growth of its members, and " facilitates the perform- 
ance of their Church work." 

The unity of the Church is the unity of the Spirit. 
Christ established the general Church, called the king- 
dom of God, or the kingdom of heaven ; and whoever 
is a "new creature" in Christ, whoever submits fully 
to bis governing will, is in his kingdom, is a member 
of his Church. 



12 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

The different denominations, which now " provoke 
one another unto love and to good works," are entirely 
man-made, so far as their distinctive characteristics are 
concerned ; and are, in reality, simply the exponents of 
different views as to the best forms of Church fellow- 
ship and Church work. "As the different oceans, called 
by different names, form one body, so the different 
denominations of Christians form one Church." 

All evangelical denominations are agreed as to the 
fundamental doctrines of Christianity; while, in these 
days of light and love, they " agree to disagree" 
only about less important doctrines and forms of Church 
organization. 

Therefore, the only question for a young Christian 
to ask, as regards Church membership, is, " Where 
can I feel most at home, and work to the best advan- 
tage ? What particular organization is best adapted 
to my particular tastes and talents, to help me and 
enable me to help others most?" Having found that 
home, there should the young Christian abide, study- 
ing carefully its methods, and making the most of 
himself in the particular department to which he finds 
himself best adapted. If congenial in tastes and be- 
lief, it is obviously best for a young Christian to join 
that Church through the instrumentality of which he 
was converted. 

Of course, there are flowers and fruits not inside 
any of these denominational gardens, and they often 
afford a most refreshing contrast to the dreariness 
of the moral wilderness in which they are found. 



IN THE CHUHCH. 13 

But they are exposed to many dangers, and grow up 
against many disadvantages unknown to those inside 
the wall; and, besides, they miss the cultivation, the 
pruning, the training, the watching, and tending so 
essential to the most perfect growth and fruitfulness. 
A good tree will be worth most in a prepared, pro- 
tected garden, where there is the most that is favor- 
able, and the least that is unfavorable, to its develop- 
ment. Therefore, young Christian, get at once into 
the organized Church, and stay there ! 

Once in the Church, all the privileges of such an 
association belong to you in kind, though perhaps not 
in degree. A mature tree, with innumerable roots 
striking down deep into the soil, and wide-spread 
branches, covered with broad leaves, which lay ample 
tribute upon the air and the moisture and the sunshine, 
will, of course, get more out of its surroundings than 
a young tree just transplanted from the nursery; but 
it will get nothing better, and has no essential rights 
which do not belong equally to its tender neighbor. 
Be modest, be of a teachable spirit; do not overrate 
your worth to the Church, but resolve in the begin- 
ning not to suffer yourself in any way, or for any 
reason, to be deprived of a single Church privilege 
which will conduce to your rapid and thorough devel- 
opment. You are a child beloved, and a joint heir in 
the household, although you may be the youngest of 
the group. 

Having identified yourself with a particular de- 
nomination, let your first principle of action be loyalty. 



14 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

While you bid all other branches of the Church 
Godspeed, have the warmest love and the clearest 
head for your own denomination. You can scarcely 
set too high an estimate upon your Church relations. 
Never speak against the Church ; never listen to the 
reproaches of others. If there are unworthy mem- 
bers, consider that they are exceptions, and by no 
means lessen the value of all that is good and Christ- 
like in your surroundings. The defects of denomina- 
tional organization only show its human origin, while 
its excellences abundantly mark the Divine approval, 
and call you to a steady development, which you are 
to permit none of these adventitious circumstances to 
hinder. If you observe evils in the Church, or hon- 
estly believe that certain modifications should be made 
in her polity, set yourself to accomplish the needed 
reform in the true spirit of brotherly love, determined 
(except where matters of principle and conscience are 
involved) quietly to submit to the godly judgment of 
your brethren, where your opinion and theirs seem to 
conflict. Remember there is a vast difference between 
a reformer and a rebel! 

Let your second principle be consecration. Give 
all there is of you to God and the Church. Let no 
single power of your being be reserved. "Pay thy 
vows unto the Lord!" Never fall into the habit, so 
common with worldly Christians, of discriminating 
between the promises made to the Church and those 
made to your associates. Sacredly keep all your 
pledges. 



IN THE CHURCH. 15 

At every point in your Christian life you are bound, 
in all honesty, to say : ' ' All there is of me belongs 
now to the Church." If you have come to be worth 
any more than when you first gave your hand to the 
Church, she is fairly entitled to all the advantage of 
it. Says Hans Christian Andersen of Jenny Lind, in 
his " Story of My Life:" " On one occasion only did 
I hear her express her joy in her talent, and her self- 
consciousness. It was during her last residence in 
Copenhagen. Almost every evening she appeared at 
concerts; every hour was in requisition. She heard 
of a society, the object of which was to assist unfor- 
tunate children ; to take them out of the hands of their 
parents, by w T hom they were misused, and compelled 
either to beg or steal. . . . ' Let me/ said she, 
'give a night's performance for the benefit of these 
poor children ; but we wdll have double prices.' Such 
a performance was given, and returned large proceeds. 
When she was informed of this, and that by this 
means a number of poor children would be benefited 
for several years, her countenance beamed, and the 
tears filled her eyes. 'Is it not beautiful' said she, 
' that I can sing so V Through her I first became sen- 
sible of the holiness there is in art; through her I 
learned that one must forget one's self in the service 
of the Supreme." 

In like manner, young Christian, learn to value 
your powers, not so much for the pleasure or the 
profit they may bring to you, as for their availability 
in the service of the Church ; always remember that 



16 AT THE THEESHOLD. 

in no other relations could they possibly be worth as 
much to the world and the cause of humanity. 
Never suffer yourself to be like the barnacles which 
simply cling to the bottom of the ship, retarding its 
progress and adding to its burden; be, rather, like 
the broad sail, which, under the direction of a skillful 
master, may be readily trimmed to catch every favor- 
ing breeze, thus constantly speeding the good ship on 
her journey. Some Churches are actually burdened 
by unemployed talent, while others are " dying of 
proprieties." You are commanded to be " instant in 
season and out of season," serving God and the 
Church with all your powers; and if you continue to 
be obedient, you will not only do nothing to perpet- 
uate these vital hinderances, but will do much to de- 
stroy or counteract them. 

Lastly, make it your business worthily to illustrate 
before the world the truth preached in your Church. 
"Preach the Word!" is the pastor's great commission; 
"Be ye doers of the Word," is the command laid upon 
the people and the pastor alike. Dr. Lyman Beecher 
used to say: "The reason why my ministry was so 
blessed to the salvation of men, was that I had so 
many pulpit reflectors in the Christians who lived out, 
and diffused in every practical way, the Gospel which 
I proclaimed." 



REPENTANCE. 17 



dl\aptef III. 

REPENTANCE. 

" Come, come to his feet and lay open your story 
Of suffering and sorrow, of guilt and of shame ; 
For the pardon of sin is the crown of his glory, 
And the joy of our Lord to he true to his name." 

— Faber. 

ONE evening, long after Dr. Samuel Johnson had 
reached the zenith of his literary fame, he said 
to his hostess: iC Madam, I beg your pardon for the 
abruptness of my departure in the morning, but I 
was compelled to it by conscience. Fifty years ago, 
madam, on this day, I committed a breach of filial 
piety. My father had been in the habit of attending 
Uttoxeter market, and opening a stall there for the 
sale of his books. Confined by indisposition, he de- 
sired me, that day, to go and attend the stall in his 
place. My pride prevented me ; I gave my father a 
refusal. And now, to-day, I have been at Uttoxeter; 
I went into the market at the time of business, un- 
covered my head, and stood with it bare for an hour, 
on the spot where my father's stall used to stand. In 
contrition I stood, aud I hope the penance was ex- 
piatory." Thomas Carlyle says of this event: "The 
picture of Samuel Johnson standing bareheaded in the 
market there, is one of the grandest and saddest we 



18 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

can paint. ' Repentance ! Repentance P he proclaims, 
as with passionate sobs ; but only to the ear of heaven, 
if heaven will give him audience ; the earthly ear and 
heart that should have heard it, are now closed, un- 
responsive forever." Although we can not echo his 
hope that " the penance was expiatory" — still, we 
recognize the elements of a genuine repentance in this 
memorable act of the Christian philosopher, whose 
tender heart constantly revealed itself, in one form or 
other, through the eccentricities of his rugged charac- 
ter. Good men love the memory of Samuel Johnson, 
because they love honesty. 

True repentance is honest repentance before God. 
St. Paul makes it clear to us when he says : ' ' Godly 
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be re- 
pented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." 

An ingenuous man will readily acknowledge that 
he is a sinner ; but too often even his repentance is a 
"sorrow of the world," which he would fain make 
himself believe is religious, and therefore acceptable 
to God. 

Some sinners repent in the line of respectability. 
They know that flagrant acts of immorality are not 
countenanced by the best society, and that they who 
indulge in such things must expect social ostracism. 
Perhaps already they are familiar with the bitterness 
of being under the ban of refined and cultivated 
circles ; and they are sorry for and resolved to abandon 
their wicked courses, simply because of the inconven- 
ience and disgrace which attend them. Some repent 



REPENTANCE. 19 

to the confidence of men, that they may secure posi- 
tions of trust and honor ; and some repent to the im- 
mutable laws of the best business circles, never suffer- 
ing their eyes to become so dimmed by the tears of 
contrition that they shall, even for a moment, lose 
sight of the " main chance." The repentance of 
others partakes more of the nature of fear than sor- 
row — fear of men ; fear of God ; fear of present con- 
sequences ; fear of hell. 

Still others, having drained to the very dregs the 
cup of worldly pleasure, are ready, with the little 
earnestness of which their jaded souls are yet capable, 
to accept the final sentiment of Hawthorne's charac- 
teristic description of the Roman Coliseum, and the 
great black cross that then stood in the amphitheater : 
"That black cross marks one of the special blood 
spots of the earth, where thousands of times over the 
dying gladiator fell, and more of human agony has 
been endured, for the mere pastime of the multitude, 
than on the breadth of many battle-fields. From all 
this crime and suffering, however, the spot has de- 
rived a more than common sanctity. An inscription 
promises seven years' indulgence, seven years of re- 
mission from the pains of purgatory, and earlier en- 
joyment of heavenly bliss, for each separate kiss im- 
printed on the black cross. What better use could 
be made of life, after middle age, when the accumu- 
lated sins are many and the remaining temptations few, 
than to spend it all in kissing the black cross of the 
Coliseum !" 



20 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

All this is dishonest repentance — ' ' sorrow of the 
world/' the apostle calls it — and if it leads to an aban- 
donment of evil pursuits, it is more on account of 
disgust, disappointment, misfortune, the bitterness of 
affliction, or leanness of purse, than because of any 
falling out with sin itself, as corrupting and debasing, 
as well as an offense before God and good men. 

" Godly sorrow" — or a sorrow according to God — 
is a very different thing from the shuffling sentimen- 
talism that we have been considering. Godly sorrow 
for sin is radical. It is conceived by the Holy Ghost, 
and born of the innermost convictions of the human 
soul. It is, in the most exalted sense, manly and 
honest. 

True repentance is something more than a mere 
selfish grief, which prompts you to forget God and 
remember only yourself. True repentance means "a 
displeasure of soul," resulting from the influence of 
the Word and the Spirit of God; it means a correct 
understanding of our natural corruption and our 
actual transgressions ; a just sense of God's hatred of 
sin ; a most intense loathing of sin ; a genuine sorrow 
for sin ; an unreserved confession of sin ; all followed 
by a profound desire for freedom from its power, cul- 
minating in a resolute determination, by God's grace, 
to let it alone. 

Too often even what seems to be genuine repent- 
ance is fitly represented by the following picture of 
Roman piety: " In Italy, religion jostles along side 
by side with business and sport, after a fashion of its 



REPENTANCE. 21 

own; and people are accustomed to kneel down and 
pray, or see others praying, between two fits of mer- 
riment, or between two sins." Palmer says: "Ke- 
pentance without amendment is like continual pump- 
ing in a ship without stopping the leaks. In real 
repentance the heart is broken for sin and from sin." 
True repentance is chiefly a matter between the soul 
and God, without much reference to others, and it 
involves the impressive thought that God ' ' looketh 
upon the heart," and that we can only hope for his 
mercy as we are strictly sincere in approaching him. 

Young Christian, let me ask you a few plain ques- 
tions ! Have you been made sick of sin, not merely 
on account of the inconvenience and disgrace which 
attend it, but because of itself as sinf Have you felt 
deeply dissatisfied with yourself for having sinned 
against God? Have you, with "a broken and con- 
trite heart," come to. God confessing your sinsf Has 
your grief, on account of sin, prompted you, publicly 
and secretly, to avoid it as you would a deadly poison ? 
Have you put from you your sins and evil acts, and 
applied yourself to acts of righteousness f 

If to these questions you can answer yes, you may 
rest assured that you have truly repented, and that, 
through faith in Christ, you may safely claim for- 
giveness for all your sins. You may be peacefully 
satisfied of this, although you may have had no excess 
of feeling — shedding no tears, uttering no groans — for 
repentance is not a matter of feeling but of principle. 
You may be peacefully satisfied of this whether 



22 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

you have been penitent one moment or one year, for 
since repentance does not wipe out sin and reinstate 
us in the favor of God, but simply makes us sick of 
sin and fills us with a sincere longing for the remedy, 
it can not possibly be estimated by the time of its 
continuance. 

The grace of true repentance is not self-produced, 
but springs up in the honest heart through the direct 
influence of the Holy Spirit. This fact is almost 
self-evident. Men are naturally so thoroughly in love 
with sin, so strongly impelled toward wrong-doing, 
and find it so utterly impossible to turn short about 
and by sheer force of will realize their depravity and 
begin to hate what they have loved, that when they 
carefully think upon this subject they must almost 
inevitably see that they need the intervention of a su- 
pernatural, a divine power, in order to a Scriptural 
penitence. All this harmonizes with the Scriptural 
affirmation that God gives to men repentance as well 
as remission of sins. (Acts v, 31 ; xi, 18 ; 2 Tim. ii, 
25 ; Matt, ix, 13 ; Zech. xii, 10.) 

By their fruits ye shall know them. Therefore 
young Christians are not left without an authoritative 
guide to assist them in carefully applying a satisfac- 
tory test to their experience. (See 2 Cor. vii, 11.) 
The fruits of true repentance are : 1. Consciousness 
of guilt. 2. Sorrow for sin. 3. Renunciation of sin. 
4. Confession of sin. 5. Restitution. Especially let 
me emphasize the last evidence. Zaccheus, realizing 
his sinfulness in the light of the divine presence, and 



REPENTANCE. 23 

being truly penitent, said : " If I have taken any 
thing from any man, by false accusation, I restore 
him fourfold." And Jesus said unto him: " This 
day is salvation come to this house." Of course we 
can make no restitution to God ; but, where the wrong 
has been toward our fellow and restitution is practi- 
cable, true repentance will most certainly prompt us 
to make it. 

If we are truly penitent, we shall bring forth these 
" fruits meet for repentance." We shall be honest 
with ourselves, honest with our fellow-men, honest 
with our God. Christ will plead for us, the Father 
will hear and forgive us, the Holy Spirit will cleanse 
us, and the glorified hosts will rejoice with us; for 
"joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repent- 
eth, more than over ninety and nine just persons 
which need no repentance." 



24 AT THE THRESHOLD. 



Cl]kj)tef IV. 

FAITH. 

" Nothing before, nothing behind : 
The steps of faith 
Fall on the seeming void, and find 

The rock beneath. " — Whittier. 

TJST the luminous words of an old writer: "Repent- 
J- ance is faith's usher, and clews all her way with 
tears. Repentance reads the law, and weeps ; faith 
reads the Gospel, and comforts. Repentance looks on 
the rigorous brow of Moses; faith beholds the sweet 
countenance of Christ Jesus." 

Faith in its general sense, and considered only as 
the work of the intellect, is " the conviction and per- 
suasion that certain propositions are true." Christian 
faith is "a firm persuasion of the truth of Chris- 
tian doctrines." But what is saving faith, as the sec- 
ond step in a genuine religious experience? Saving 
faith is much more than an intellectual belief in Christ 
and the Gospel ; indeed, it is more a work of the 
heart than of the head. "With the heart man be- 
lieveth unto righteousness." Philip said to the Eu- 
nuch, "If thou believest with all thine heart thou 
mayest be baptized." 

In exercising saving faith I apprehend — or take 



FAITH. 25 

hold of — the facts that I am a condemned sinner, and 
that Christ alone can save me. I assent to these prop- 
ositions without reserve; and then I trust in God, fully 
relying upon his promises, and upon the blood of Christ 
for my salvation. This is partly the work of the intel- 
lect, but it is more a work of the affections; it is a 
loving, personal trust in the atonement, which not only 
enables me to believe and say that Christ died for all 
men, but prompts me to go a step further, where I 
rejoice in a knowledge of him as my personal, present 
Savior. 

My logic is as simple and yet as strong as my love. 
I say: " My Heavenly Father promises, He that be- 
lieve th shall be saved; I do believe, I affectionately 
trust his word ; therefore I shall be saved, and in 
due time he will give me the satisfactory evidence." 
A lady of very deep religious experience was once re- 
quested by Mr. Wesley to give him a definition of 
faith, and she replied: " It is taking God at his word." 
The answer satisfied Mr. Wesley, and it will satisfy 
us; nothing could be more simple, nothing could be 
more exact. When Christ would illustrate saving 
faith to the Jewish ruler, he said : " As Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son 
of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have eternal life." The poi- 
soned, dying Hebrew, who believed the wonderful 
proclamation of the great lawgiver, had but to show 
his faith by turning his eyes toward the brazen serpent 
which was set up in the midst of the camp, and he 



26 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

was instantly healed. So a repentant sinner, lying 
prostrate at the door of mercy, sick unto eternal death, 
acknowledging the justice of the condemnatory sen- 
tence which has been passed upon him, and yet cry- 
ing for mercy, tired of sin, resolved to forsake sin, 
hearing that Jesus of Nazareth hangs on the cross for 
the express purpose that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have eternal life, has only to 
turn his anxious eyes toward the dear Redeemer, and 
to believe that, because Christ suffered, God now, in 
fulfillment of his promise, will save him. When he 
thus relies on God, that moment he is forgiven. Let 
him then harbor no anxieties about feeling or fitness, 
or times or seasons or evidences, but apply himself 
diligently and at once to the Master's work. This is 
his only business; God will take care of all the rest. 
His faith in Christ is accounted unto him for right- 
eousness, and in God's good time he will find that, 

" The Spirit answers to the blood, 
And tells him he is born of God." 

Such a reliance and expectation is justifying faith. Mr. 

Watson says of it : ' ' It is an act of recumbency — we 

do rest upon Christ, as the stones in the building rest 

upon the corner-stone. Faith throws itself into Christ's 

arms ; it saith, ' Christ is my priest, his blood is my; 

sacrifice, his divine nature is my altar, and here I 

rest/ " 

As to the particular way in which our Father will 

lead us, the same affectionate trust must characterize 

us, and we must always hold ourselves steadily to the 



FAITH. 27 

practical belief that God's promises will never fail. 
Of course we can not see the end from the beginning, 
we sometimes, perhaps, can not see one step in ad- 
vance; then we must walk by faith, letting him lead 
us. Of course he does not explain all -his purposes to 
us, but they are none the less wise or sure on that 
account. Our sole business is to trust him, and do 
his will. A very simple illustration may help us at 
this point. " One evening a father and his little 
daughter, who had been spending the afternoon at a 
neighbor's, started through the darkness for home. 
It was the first time she had ever been out of doors 
in the night, and she began to be troubled about the 
w ay home. ' I can 't see our house, papa. I do n't 
know the w T ay. Where are we going?' she said anx- 
iously. He replied, ' I can see the road, and if you 
keep hold of my hand, I will take care of you.' Then 
she said, as if chiding and comforting herself, 'Yes, 
you do know the way, don't you, papa? You will 
take care of your little girl, 'cause you love her, do n't 
you, papa?' After this she only grasped his hand a 
little tighter, and trudged cheerfully onward wherever 
he led the w T ay." 

There is no antagonism between such simple faith, 
as the basis of spiritual life and a true philosophy. 
Faith is a higher faculty than reason, and its opera- 
tions belong to a higher sphere. There is nothing 
truer than the well-known sentence with which Cole- 
ridge completes his literary biography: "The scheme 
of Christianity, though not discernible by human 



28 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

reason, is yet in accordance with it, link follows link 
by necessary consequence; religion passes out of the 
ken of reason only when the eye of reason has reached 
its own horizon, and faith is then but its continuation. 
A simple, child-like faith is compatible with the larg- 
est knowledge, and the Christian consciousness is fre- 
quently the best solvent of doubt." 

Faith accomplishes the work of salvation only by 
bringing to bear upon the sinner's heart the power of 
God; just as a mere child may move a whole train 
of cars by opening the valve and letting on the steam. 
The woman who passed through the throng which 
surrounded our Lord, and stooped down to touch the 
hem of his garment, was not healed by her touch, 
nor his garment, nor her marvelous faith, but by the 
power that St. Mark tells us had gone out of Christ. 
While we are not exactly saved by faith, it is through 
faith only that we receive the benefits of the merits 
of Jesus Christ. We are made spiritually whole by 
the virtue which the touch of faith draws out of 
Christ. One writer illustrates it as follows: "You 
have seen a chain in two pieces, and a link connecting 
them that looks like the letter S. Faith is that link ; 
on one side it takes hold of the Savior, on the other 
it takes hold of the sinner." 

Let me lay great stress upon the fact that a man 
can maintain his justified state before God, only by 
repeated and constant acts of faith ; and for each spe- 
cial emergency that arises in his spiritual life he must 
exercise special faith. The faith of to-day will develop 



FAITH. 29 

and strengthen you, and prepare you for greater 
things, but in no other sense will it meet the demands 
of to-morrow. "As thy, days, so shall thy strength 
be;" we live by the day, and we must trust by the 
day. For this reason, Christian life is called in Scrip- 
ture a " warfare," a " fight of faith," " a race," a 
" harvest field," a " voyage;" and faith in God is 
called a " shield," a "sword," a "girdle for the 
loins," an "anchor." Every burden that is borne, 
every victory that is gained, every successful prayer 
that is offered, is through faith. This proves the 
necessity of successive, persistent trust in God. 

" Ne'er think the victory won, 
Nor lay thine armor down ; 
The work of faith will not be done, 
Till thou obtain the crown." 

There are degrees of faith. Your faith, at conver- 
sion, may be perfect in kind, but it can not be perfect 
in degree. Young and inexperienced Christians can 
not and must not expect to be as strong in faith as 
those who are disciplined and developed by the strife 
and toil of years. And you must not murmur or de- 
spair because of the comparative weakness of your 
faith ; for if you hold on to Christ, if you are obedient, 
if you maintain a life of progress, it will grow with 
your growth, and strengthen with your strength, until 
it shall enable you to remove mountains of difficulty, 
and, having done all, to stand when that great and no- 
table day of the Lord shall come. 

" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 



30 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

be saved.'' It must be so; believe now, believe al- 
ways, and thou wilt surely be saved. 

" Sing, pray, and swerve not from his ways, 
But do thine own part faithfully; 

Trust his rich promises of grace, 
So shall they be fulfilled in thee ; 

God never yet forsook at need 

The soul that trusted him indeed." 

Faith is the gift of God. The power to believe is 
bestowed upon us by God, in answer to prayer; but 
the exercise of that power belongs to us. " God never 
believes for a man, any more than he repents for him." 
If the penitent asks, grace will be bestowed, for God 
has so promised ; let him then proceed at once to ex- 
ercise it. Let it be brought to bear upon every prom- 
ise of Scripture touching his case ; and let this process 
be continued all through his religious life. Let the 
words ' ' praying " and ' ' believing " be an epitome of 
his spiritual history. 

The power to believe is sometimes bestowed un- 
asked, and its presence may precede the exercise of 
it by many years ; and this only increases our respon- 
sibility. Does not the fact that we often find in the 
Word of God not only warnings but threatening^ 
against those who do not believe, prove that men have 
the power to believe but do not use it ? 

God's mercy is nowhere shown more clearly than 
in the gift of this grace ; and while we continue to ask 
and receive, with increasing wonder we must exclaim ; 

" gift of gifts ! grace of faith ! 
My God, how can it be 



FAITH. 31 

That thou, who hast discerning love, 
Shouldst give that gift to me?" 

If saving faith really exists in the heart, it will 
surely manifest itself in good works. By these we 
may test the faith, applying Christ's rule: "By their 
fruits ye may know them." There is no conflict be- 
tween the two commands: "Believe and be saved/' 
and "Work out your own salvation;" for once being 
saved through faith, we will inevitably go on working 
because we are saved. Faith is the life sap of the tree, 
genuine good works are the blossoms and the fruit; 
the latter can not possibly exist without the former. 
There is no value in works except as they prove the 
genuineness of our inward faith. 

Dr. T. L. Cuyler, in illustrating the essential con- 
nection between faith and works, has used the follow- 
ing beautiful symbol : 

" The second chapter of the Epistle by James 
seems, to my mind, to describe a spiritual wedding. 
We are bidden ' to a marriage ;' and, as at the older 
marriage in Cana of Galilee, the holy Master is 
present, and consummates the nuptials. The parties 
to be united are but symbolic personages, and yet are 
real and life-like too. The bride is young and beauti- 
ful — ever young, and ever clothed upon with light as 
with a garment. Her face is clear as the day; her 
look is firm, and yet trustful. She is not of the earth 
but heaven-born, and wears her celestial parentage in 
every lineament of her radiant countenance. Her 
name is ' Faith.' She is the daughter of God. And 



32 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

beside her stands one whose lusty form was made for 
deeds of daring and endurance. He is sinewy and 
athletic. There is valor in his eye, and ' cunning in 
his ten fingers/ and strength in his right arm. He 
was created to act, to do, to suffer. He was formed 
for strife and struggle. His name is ' Action.' With 
solemn rites the two are joined in wedlock. They are 
both to love, and both to obey. They are always to live 
and move and suffer and conquer together. They are 
to be the faithful parents of every thing good on earth. 
On them, while united, Jehovah pronounces a bless- 
ing richer than that which gladdened the nuptials of 
Isaac and Rebekah, or of Jacob and Leah. While 
united, they are to live and grow and conquer; when 
separated, they are to droop and perish. For each 
other, and in each other, and with each other, their 
days of struggle and victory are to be passed, until 
time shall be no longer. And so ' Faith ' and ' Works' 
were coupled by infinite Wisdom ; and in the presence 
of the world it was solemnly announced, ' What God 
hath joined together, let not man put asunder.'" 



conversion. 33 



d^tef V. 

CONVERSION. 

" I lay my sins on Jesus, 

The spotless Lamb of God ; 
He bears them all and frees us 

From the accursed load. 
I bring my guilt to Jesus, 

To wash my crimson stains 
White in his blood most precious, 

Till not a stain remains." — Bonar. 

JUSTIFICATION is a legal term, and transports 
** us at once to the court-room. The judge is on 
the bench, and before him stands a criminal who has 
been found guilty of a great crime. Before judgment 
is pronounced and carried into execution, a friend of 
the culprit steps forward and pays down for him a 
certain amount, which, in strict accordance with the 
law, is considered a sufficient satisfaction for the of- 
fense. The judge accepts the indemnity, and releases 
the offender. He is still a guilty man, but the indem- 
nity being accepted he has been pardoned, and can no 
more be legally prosecuted and punished for his offense 
than a person who has never broken the law. Law 
knows no justification for the offender. Here the 
Gospel differs from law. The law justifies only the 
blameless. 

3 



34 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

This is exactly my state as a sinner before God. I 
am guilty, and I confess my sinfulness. I can not 
make satisfaction, because I have no merit, no ability. 
My offense is so great that I am in danger of eternal 
destruction. Just now I turn my eyes toward Jesus, 
and with true penitence and implicit faith I remind 
him of his promise to save me. He is a faithful and 
almighty friend, and he at once steps forward, offer- 
ing in my behalf, and as a sufficient atonement for 
my sins, his shed blood. Christ has infinite merit, 
and God accepts him as my substitute, my faith in 
him is accounted unto me for righteousness, and at 
once I am justified. I am not acquitted, for I am 
not innocent; I am not justified " by works," for I 
have not kept the whole law ; I am simply justified 
" by faith" in Christ, who offers himself as my sub- 
stitute, doing for me what I can not do for myself. 
I am pardoned. 

" Justification, in its primary idea, is an act of God, 
as the chief magistrate, ordering the non-execution of 
penalty. The law says, Let the sinner die ; God says, 
Let the sinner live. This is justification; it is making 
just, in the sense of treating the sinner, so far as pen- 
alty is concerned, the same as if he were just — the 
same as if he had not been guilty of transgression."* 
If you ask me, When is a sinner justified? I answer, 
When he truly repents and truly believes, or accepts 
Christ as his Savior. 



* Raymond's " Systematic Theology," Vol. II, p. 324. 



CONVERSION. 35 

REGENERATION. 

Salvation includes not only the pardon of sin, but 
also a marked change in the moral character, which 
we call regeneration. Pardon is a work done for the 
sinner, releasing him from the liability to punishment 
for the sins of which he has repented ; regeneration is 
a work done in the sinner by the Holy Spirit, chang- 
ing his moral and religious motives, desires, purposes, 
and character. Justification is a change in our state, 
regeneration is a change in our nature ; technically, the 
first precedes the second, but practically the two bless- 
ings are so closely connected that they may be re- 
garded as contemporary. 

The greatness of the change effected in conversion 
is very impressively expressed in Scripture. It is 
called passing from darkness to light; it is called a 
resurrection, a passing from death unto life ; and our 
Lord himself, when explaining it to the Jewish ruler, 
declared it to be a new birth. There is nothing start- 
ling to us in such a declaration, for we are accus- 
tomed to mark great changes, not only in the circum- 
stances, but in the characters, of men about us. How 
often, when we meet some friend of other days, are 
we impressed with a vague sense that he is not the 
man we once knew so intimately, after all ; and a little 
more study and careful observation convince us that 
there is something lost, or something gained (or both), 
which sets the companion of to-day irrevocably over 
against the companion of yesterday. The change may 
have been wrought by a peculiar training, by health 



36 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

either lost or found, by adversity, by affliction, by 
disappointment, by prosperity, or by the mere lapse 
of years, but every thing about him shows that he 
has little, if any thing, in common with the character- 
istics which once individualized him. 

How it is, why it is, we may not be able to tell ; 
nevertheless we are intensely conscious of the fact that 
our friend is changed ; in all his aims and purposes 
he is another man. As our own years advance, and 
we compare the present with some period in the re- 
mote past, we are often conscious ourselves of an en- 
tire change of thoughts and feelings and habits, result- 
ing in an entire change of character. Thorough and, 
in a worldly sense, all-embracing change, is common 
among men ; while a man's life often turns upon a 
small point, and in an unexpected moment. Many 
men are converted almost instantly from one manner 
of thought and life to another — perhaps directly op- 
posite. And when that conversion is effected by the 
Holy Spirit, and is commenced from religious motives, 
then it is Scriptural conversion — a conversion to a 
Christian life. 

This change — called regeneration — is radical in its 
nature, comprehending a change of the whole man. 
There is no warrant in Scripture for regarding it as a 
mere amendment of the old life; an improvement 
upon good principles already implanted in the heart; 
a change of purpose; a mere growing better by care 
and duty and self-improvement. It is a change in kind ; 
a change of principle ; a grand renovation, spiritually, 



CONVERSION. 37 

of the man. Every traveler in England must have 
noticed there how kindly nature takes an old ruin to 
her heart. Covering it with greenest ivy, she strives 
to make it a part of herself. Gradually hiding its 
ugliness with her own mosses and trailing verdure, she 
makes the whole structure a thing of beauty. But it 
is a ruin still, and appropriately illustrates the piety 
of those who repudiate the idea of a radical change — 
a supernatural change — in conversion. The outward 
life, upon which men look, may be changed for the 
better, but the inner life, upon which God looks, is 
still depraved and imperfect. 

St. Paul makes it all clear to us in the following 
words: "If any man be in Christ [be regenerated] 
he is a new creature; old things are passed away; 
behold, all things are become new. Not by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but according to 
his mercy, he saved us, by the washing of regenera- 
tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." 

The Fathers defined regeneration, salvation from 
the reigning power of sin. Naturally, we are morally 
corrupt. As the result of the first sin the entire race 
has inherited a depraved nature; all our faculties are 
affected by it, and the body, as well as the mind, 
suffers therefrom. As the result of this tendency we 
run readily into sin both of body and soul, and are 
condemned for our actual transgressions of the law of 
God. Our hearts are bad, and our affections reach 
out after unworthy objects; we are under the control 
of "a false love, a wrong love, a downward, selfish 



38 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

love." The volitional faculty — the will — is also in 
bondage to sin, and we have no power to obey the 
dictates of conscience. In a word, we belong to the 
"kingdom of this world;" sin rules us, the will of 
Satan dominates ours. 

Regeneration brings conscious freedom from this 
bondage. The weakness and imperfections of the mind 
and body are not entirely removed, and will not be 
in this life; we are not freed from errors in judgment 
or from the mistakes of ignorance ; but the power of 
sin is broken, we are no longer controlled thereby. 

The ruling love is changed. This involves more 
than a change of purpose; it is a change of character. 
We are now, through divine grace, under the control 
of a true, upward, God ward love. This is the normal 
condition of the human heart. We now love what 
we once hated, or were indifferent to, notwithstanding 
our better judgment convinced us of its value. We 
now hate what we once loved, although we knew it 
to be hurtful, or, at least, worthless. This true love 
determines and adjusts all our aims and purposes, 
turning them in a new and right direction. 

The will is emancipated and strengthened. Con- 
science now speaks, and we not only desire to obey, 
and feel it right and best for us to obey, but we have 
the power to obey; we do obey, conscious all the while 
of supernatural aid. Through Christ strengthening 
us we can do all things ; and so long as by faith w T e 
maintain this obedience, we are without condemnation. 
We now belong to the "kingdom of heaven," we love 



CONVERSION. 39 

God supremely ; our desires harmonize with his law ; 
his will dominates ours. Sin has separated between 
man and God ; but regeneration reunites man to God, so 
that his thoughts, loves, tempers, purposes, and efforts, 
are towards God. He is "born of God;" his "life is 
hid with Christ, in God ;" with free choice of love and 
will he serves God; he is saved, controlled, used, and 
exalted by God. A spiritual life is begun in him 
which w T ill grow brighter and brighter to all eternity. 
And this he has received in the place of the old life 
of sin. ' ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; 
but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." If you 
ask me, When is a sinner regenerated? I answer, 
When he truly repents and truly believes. 



40 AT THE THEESHOLD. 



dljkgptetf VI. 
CONVERSION— continued. 

T~N his interview with Nicodemus, our Lord points 
-*- out the agent accomplishing this great and impor- 
tant change in these words : " Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the 
kingdom of God." This language is a Hebraism, 
which presents the water as the symbol, and the Holy 
Spirit as the agent. As in the first creation, when 
man was made in the image of God, so in this re- 
creation, whereby that lost image is restored, the Holy 
Spirit is the active agent. No man can be regener- 
ated but by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Christ purchased pardon for all who seek him ; 
Christ opened the fountain for sin and all uncleanness, 
and all who wash there shall be made pure. But we 
need much more than this; we need some one to help 
us into the fountain. In answer to the prayer of faith, 
God "puts his Spirit within us," and sinful as we are, 
strengthless as we are, he assists us in seeking, in 
finding, and in believing upon the Savior ; the promise 
is thus fulfilled : ' c My grace is sufficient for thee ; for 
my strength is made perfect in weakness." Water 
baptism is a holy sacrament; it is the covenantal rite 
of the New Testament dispensation, and so it is the 



CONVERSION. 41 

door into the Church ; it is the outward sign or pro- 
fession of the inward work of grace ; it is God's seal, 
and our seal, set to the covenant we have made with 
him; but water does not save and cleanse us, that is 
exclusively the work of the Holy Spirit. Just how 
the Spirit operates in this gracious work, God has not 
seen fit to explain to us ; we probably are not capable 
of understanding it ; but that the change is actually 
accomplished we may know and understand. When 
Christ said: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
whence it eometh, and whither it goeth : so is every 
one that is bom of the Spirit," he intended especially 
to teach us that as the air proves its existence, not 
by being seeu, but by its effects, so the Holy Spirit, 
whose substance is unseen, and whose operations are 
mysterious, can be known to us only by the results 
of these operations. Every one that is regenerated 
experiences the effect of the Spirit's power, but can 
not tell how or why or whence he acts. The man 
who was born blind could only answer the critical 
questions of the Pharisees by the simple assertion : 
"Whereas I was blind, now I see;" and the regener- 
ated sinner can only bear testimony to the fact that 
his love and his will have been changed, he feels that 
he is a "new creature," and he is ready to give God 
the glory. 

The change itself was instantaneous, but the con- 
sciousness of it may come to him so gradually that 
only by comparing his present state with his condition 



42 



AT THE THRESHOLD. 



some weeks or montlis ago can he feel certain that he 
is saved. Then he walked in darkness, now he walks 
in the light. On the other hand, the consciousness 
of the change may have been as instantaneous as the 
change itself, and he can tell the very hour and the 
very moment when he passed over Penuel and the sun 
rose upon him. He may have had much feeling or 
little feeling ; great peace or ecstatic joy ; these man- 
ifestations, dependent upon so many contingencies, 
argue nothing one way or another. The important 
thing is to know that now Yv T e are changed. Although 
we may not be as explicit as to time, it is necessary 
for us to be as clear in our testimony to the fact as 
was Summerfield, when a certain English bishop asked 
him, "Where were you born?" "I was born in 
Dublin and Liverpool," he answered. "How can 
that be? were you born in two places?" said the bishop. 
"Art thou a master in Israel and knowest not these 
things?" replied Summerfield. 

ADOPTION. 

By adoption we commonly understand that a man 
takes the child of another, and places it in the condi- 
tion of his own child; to be in every respect from 
thenceforth as his own, with all the rights and priv- 
ileges and obligations and duties of a child. In con- 
version this is exactly what God does for us. Sin has 
brought us to the condition of aliens from God 
and his kingdom. We have rebelled against our 
rightful Sovereign ; we, perhaps, have come to hate 



CONVERSION. 43 

that Sovereign, who is also our Father. In the full- 
est sense we have forfeited his love, a-nd all claim 
upon his mercy. We are outcasts, prodigals, disin- 
herited. All this is the inevitable result of sin. But 
now w r e repent of our sin ; we believe in Christ ; we are 
justified and regenerated; after which God changes 
our personal relations, and by a fatherly act he re- 
stores us to our lost heirship and rightful place in his 
family. We are now more than servants, doing his 
will as a task, by which w r e hope to avoid his dis- 
pleasure ; we are beloved children, actually delighting 
to do his will as it is made known to us. "When 
1 God pardons, he forgives ; as a Sovereign, he justifies; 
as a Father, he adopts ; and as a gracious and w T onder- 
w r orking God, he also regenerates. These are con- 
comitant, contemporary. In the order of thought, 
justification is first, regeneration is second, and adop- 
tion third ; all as if they were one — as in an obvious 
sense they are — are conditioned upon faith in the re- 
cipient."* "For ye have not received the spirit of 
bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit 
of adoption, whereby ye cry, Abba, Father. As many 
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
God. Ye are all children of God by faith in Jesus 
Christ." Young Christian, this is an inestimable bless- 
ing. Let it not be lightly regarded; may it be more 
than your meat and your drink practically to recognize 
the obligations it so delightfully imposes. 



Raymond, Vol. II, page 361. 



44 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

We are told that when the Danish missionaries 
stationed at Malabar set some of their converts to 
translate a catechism, in which it was asserted that be- 
lievers become the sons of God, one of the translators 
was so startled that he suddenly laid down his pen, 
and exclaimed: " It is too much, let me rather ren- 
der it, 'They shall be permitted to kiss his feet/" 

WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 

" The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God." In the words of 
Cawdray, "Like as fire is known not to be painted 
fire, but true fire, by heat and by the flame; so there 
are two witnesses of our adoption — God's Spirit and 
our spirit. Like as if a king or nobleman should, of 
mere love and favor, take in a beggar, nay a traitor, 
even so God did with us." It is but reasonable to 
expect that a man should receive a satisfactory assur- 
ance that so important a work as regeneration has ac- 
tually been wrought in him. The Scriptures plainly 
teach that we may enjoy " a comfortable persuasion or 
conviction of present acceptance with God, and a cheer- 
ful hope of eternal life," and to this belief nearly all 
Christians of the present day firmly hold. 

This assurance may vary in degree. One person 
may be very positive and clear that he is a child of 
God, having no doubts whatever upon that point; 
while another's assurance may be less distinct and yet 
amount to satisfactory persuasion; and still a third 
may, at times, be oppressed by doubts and fears. 



CONVERSION. 45 

The question is, May we have, and do we have, at 
any time, evidence which is perfectly satisfactory, 
that we are born of God and adopted into his family ? 
Most certainly do we believe that one important work 
of the Holy Spirit is to produce in the mind of the 
believer in Christ a profound conviction of his accep- 
tance with God, and that this he will do either di- 
rectly, without the intervention of second causes, or 
through the various means of grace, such as prayer, 
the preaching of the Word, reading the Scriptures, 
or association with experienced Christians. 

This assurance the young Christian should prayer- 
fully seek, never resting satisfied until it is attained, 
and maintained. Such a clear, Scriptural experience 
will be, next to the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
Word of God, the very best weapon with which to 
resist Satan, and fight the champions of antichrist, 
especially scoffers and infidels. John Wesley, in his 
peculiarly clear and impressive manner, defines the 
witness of the Spirit as: "An inward impression on 
your soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately and 
directly witnesses to your spirit that you are a child 
of God ; that Jesus hath loved you and given himself 
for you, that all your sins are blotted out, and you 
are reconciled to God." 

In answer to the question, Does the Spirit testify 
to our adoption by an outward voice? Mr. Wesley 
replies : "No, nor always by an inward voice, although 
he may do this sometimes. Neither do I suppose that 
he always applies to the heart (though he often may), 



46 AT THE THKESHOLD. 

one or more texts of Scripture. But he so works 
upon the soul by his inimediate influence, and by a 
strong, though inexplicable operation, that the stormy 
winds and troubled waves subside, and there is a sweet 
calm ; the heart resting as in the arms of Jesus, and 
the sinner being clearly satisfied that God is recon- 
ciled, that all his iniquities are forgiven, and his sins 
are covered." To the witness of his Spirit, God has 
joined the witness of our own spirits; there is an in- 
ward experience (not always the same, or equally clear 
in every person, yet still unmistakable) from which 
we readily infer our acceptance with the Father. If 
you lead a man out of a dark cave into the clear sun- 
shine, he is fully conscious of the great change ; so 
when a man passes from spiritual darkness to light, 
when the witnessing Spirit of adoption comes to join 
its testimony to that of his own soul, there can not 
possibly be any mistake about it; he does know that 
he is a child of God. 

If you ask me, Sow this satisfactory conviction, or 
persuasion, comes into the heart ; what is the mode of 
the Holy Spirit's operation? I answer, I can not tell. 
That is one of God's secrets. I only know that in 
every converted soul such a change is wrought, and 
such a testimony is given. The testimony of God's 
Spirit is primary, the testimony of your spirit is sec- 
ondary and the " fruits of the Spirit," of which the 
apostle writes so beautifully, are confirmatory ; they 
appear in the heart and life as the manifest results of 
conversion. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 



CONVERSION. 47 

peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
ness, temperance ; against such there is no law. And 
they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with 
the affections and lusts. 

Man is not by nature good and joyful and peace- 
ful. He does not have faith in God ; he is not gentle 
and meek, and temperate ; he does not, and can not, 
overcome the earthward affections and lusts of his 
evil nature ; he does not and can not submit his self- 
ish nature to the control of or to be in harmony with 
God's will. So when these fruits appear, there can 
be no reasonable doubt of their source or their ex- 
istence. The heart from which they spring must be 
a supernaturally changed heart ; the life which bears 
them must be a Christian life. If I enjoy this double 
testimony of God's Spirit and my own ; if I bear this 
precious fruit ; if I have come into righteousness and 
joy and peace in the Holy Ghost ; if I am verily un- 
der the reign of God ; if I am doing the will of God ; 
then, beyond all question, I am " born again," I am 
in "the kingdom of God," I am converted. If I 
maintain my consecration of myself and all my powers 
to God's service; if I continue to be cheerfully obedi- 
ent to the promptings of the Spirit ; if I steadily grow 
in grace; if I constantly watch against sin, and the 
sly assaults of Satan ; if I maintain a true Scriptural 
separateness from the world; if I constantly pray for 
and depend upon divine strength and wisdom; then 
will I constantly maintain this precious witness of the 
Spirit. 



48 AT THE THRESHOLD. 



Clikptef VII. 

CONCERNING GROWTH. 

" Heaven is not reached at a single bound ; 
But we build the ladder by which we rise 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 
And we nrount to its summit round by round." 

— Holland. 

"X7^0U are to grow in grace, not into grace. The 
-■- believing soul is " born of God" in a very short 
time, if not in a moment, and afterward grows up by 
degrees ' ' into the measure of the full stature of 
Christ." All the graces of the Spirit are implanted 
at once in the regenerated soul ; they are perfect in 
kind, and the process of growth at once begins ; but 
when that soul is made ''perfect in love," all hin- 
der ances to a rapid growth are removed, and a devel- 
opment is soon reached which is as beautiful as it is 
constant. 

The life of a man who loves God "with all his 
heart" may be likened to a prepared garden, with all 
weeds and unfavorable influences removed ; where the 
gardener assiduously trains the vines, fertilizes the soil 
about the plants, surrounds every thing with favor- 
able circumstances, then watches until the blossoms 
appear and fruit is seen — much fruit — sweet, well- 
ripened, perfect fruit. In the beautiful language of 



CONCERNING GROWTH. 49 

the Psalmist : ' ' The righteous shall flourish like the 
palm tree ; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall 
flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still briug 
forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourish- 
ing." To quote the well chosen words of Professor 
Upham : ' ' We may not only affirm that there may 
be a growth in perfection, but may assert, further, 
that the thing which is most perfect, if it be suscepti- 
ble to growth at all, will have the most sure and 
rapid growth. Which will grow the more rapidly and 
symmetrically, the child which is perfect in its infancy, 
or one which is afflicted with some malformation? It 
is very clear that, although it is possible for a person 
who is partially holy to grow in holiness, a person 
who is entirely holy, although he may be assailed by 
unfavorable influences outwardly, will grow much 
more." 

Growth is the only reliable preventive of back- 
sliding. If you would successfully resist those influ- 
ences that tend to coldness, inefficiency, and apostasy, 
you must be a growing Christian. Then the very 
difficulties with which you meet will give a healthy 
tone and tendency to your powers, will invigorate the 
soul and develop resources. In the parable of the 
talents, Christ has special reference to our religious 
faculties. These, we are taught, may, by a careful 
use, be increased, not only fivefold and tenfold, but 
indefinitely. But if they are neglected— hid in a nap- 
kin—they not only will not increase, but will actually 
4 



50 AT THE THKESHOKD. 

be taken from us. By a slow and almost impercepti- 
ble process, they will waste entirely away. The 
servant who was pronounced wicked and slothful, did 
not throw away his lord's money, he simply hid it 
and made no effort to increase it. He intended to 
keep it, but by neglecting, he lost it. 

So, young Christian, it may be your sincere pur- 
pose to keep the grace you now have, even while you 
neglect to improve upon it. But that amounts to 
nothing; already it is going from you, and soon you 
will be left empty-handed and condemned. To pre- 
vent this, and to fulfill the purposes of God in ad- 
mitting you into his kingdom, and intrusting such 
precious talents to you, you must address yourself 
most prayerfully and persistently to this work of de- 
velopment. This must be the all-absorbing business 
of your life. 

To meet the just expectation of the Church you 
must be a growing Christian. You have been admit- 
ted to the privileges of Church membership, and are 
being watched over and cared for, not only for your 
own sake, but for what you are expected to be and to 
do when you come to spiritual maturity. 

When a babe comes into the house it commands 
the attention and service of all, because of its weak- 
ness and helplessness. The freshness and beauty of 
its young life compel the willing homage of all in the 
family. But when the babe has come to be a man 
in years, and in physical proportions, if he still de- 
mands and expects the same attention and service, he 



CONCERNING GROWTH. .51 

is laughed at and regarded as a failure. He has not 
met the just expectations of his friends. The family 
of Christ into which you have been born, does not 
expect you always to remain w T eak and inefficient — al- 
ways to be nursed and favored. You are required to 
grow and become strong — able to bear burdens, and 
to guide the feeble footsteps of others in your turn. 
You are expected to become like the old pastor in 
Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," who 

" Allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way;" 
and you have no right to disappoint the family in 
these bright anticipations. 

But you will not attain to this at a single bound. 
The beautiful order of nature is, first the twig and 
then the tree. This also is the beautiful order of 
grace. You must be content to grow. You have no 
right to expect now a maturity of Christian character 
and availability equal to those who have been years 
in the way. You are to ' ' grow in the grace of which 
Christ is the author, and in the knowledge of which 
Christ is the object." Having attained unto this 
spiritual life, it is to be made perfect in you ; all those 
qualities which make up your present character, and 
mark your new life as distinct from your old life, 
- are to become more and more apparent. They are 
not only to be " in you," but they are to " abound." 
So you must daily attain unto a more perfect knowl- 
edge of Christ, not only by an increasing understand- 
ing of his word, but by a genuine, personal experience 
as well. 



52 AT THE THEESHOLD. 

The truth is not only to be apprehended by you, 
but it is to enter into you, to be assimilated, to be- 
come a part of you, and by the unfolding of that truth 
in your life, you are to stand before the world in 
Christ's stead. You must be able to say: "I live, 
yet not I [no longer .1] ; Christ liveth in me." If 
Christ is in you, you are daily to become more like 
him. You are now a " worker together with Christ," 
and as you carry this Gospel to others, and strive to 
break down their indifference, their worldliness, or 
their unbelief, it is essential to your success that they 
recognize in you the same unconquerable zeal, the 
same abounding love, the same fervent hope, the same 
obedient faith, the same patient humility which dis- 
tinguished the Master from the self-seeking crowd 
about him. And these qualities are to increase in 
you ; they are to be the implements of your spiritual 
husbandry ; they are to be the weapons of your war- 
fare; they are to furnish you thoroughly unto all 
good works. 

You must aim at a symmetrical growth. No one 
grace should be unduly cultivated to the neglect of 
another. Let the oarsman pull but one oar and his 
boat goes round and round, without making any 
actual headway ; in like manner a one-sided Christian 
moves in a circle, and wastes his powers. For ex- 
ample, let a man cultivate the grace of zeal more 
than he cultivates knowledge, or prudence, or humil- 
ity, and at once he becomes a fanatic, imperiling his 
own spiritual life, and the prosperity of the Church as 



CONCERNING GROWTH. 53 

well. A crooked Christian, like a crooked tree, shows 
that there is something wrong in the process of growth. 
You must constantly keep Christ before you, as the 
true ideal character. Charles Dudley Warner has 
written some pretty thoughts about the poetic sensi- 
bility of a certain back-woodsman who acted as his 
guide in the Adirondacks. " He told of seeing once, 
or rather being in, a circular rainbow. He stood on 
Indian Head, overlooking the Lower Lake, so that 
he saw the whole bow in the sky and the lake, and 
seemed to be in the midst of it, ' only at one place 
there was an indentation in it where it rested on the 
lake, just enough to keep it from rolling off.' This 
1 resting' of the sphere seemed to give him great com- 
fort. v A well-rounded Christian character will grow 
to be like that raiubow ; a beautiful, a perfect thing, 
springing from and resting on Christ. 

If I were to offer you a gauge, by which to test 
your growth, it would be in these words of Christ: 
" If any man will come after me, let him deny him- 
self and take up his cross and follow me." The de- 
velopment of this grace of cross-bearing, more than 
any other, marks the symmetrical growth of Christian 
character and knowledge. All those who have borne 
the cross can tell you that, although it was rude, and 
rugged and heavy, when they first bent to receive it, 
they can testify how rich and full it has made their 
lives; how blessed beyond all others are they upon 
whom it is laid. Eutherford has quaintly said : " He 
that looketh upon the white side of Christ's cross, 



54 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

and taketh it up handsomely, findeth it just such a 
burden to him as wings are to a bird." 

The Christian's business is to grow. Growth is 
promoted by constant faith, constant love^ constant 
obedience, constant ivatehfidness, good food — such as 
comes from carefully studying and meditating upon 
the Scriptures — good air — found in the healthful asso- 
ciations of the various means of grace — and regular 
and abundant exercise of all our powers. Of some of 
these essentials to spiritual growth I shall speak more 
at length hereafter. Just here, however, let me say 
that a growing Christian must not be afraid of hard 
work. You should be suspicious of easy things. 
Learn to grapple cheerfully with hard things, for 
only through such discipline can you possibly attain 
your full stature as a matured Christian. A place 
among the picked soldiers of Frederick the Great 
was only granted to those w T ho w T ere of a certain re- 
quired height ; so among the choice followers of Prince 
Immanuel, there are no dwarfs, no weaklings. Look 
well to this matter, then. Take your spiritual meas- 
ure daily. " Let the ' measure of the stature of the 
fullness J often be seen ; but let the measure of the 
stature of littleness, dwarfishness, and emptiness -be 
unknown." 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 55 



CVaptef VIII. 

ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

" By faith in Christ I walk with God, 

With heaven, my journey's end, in view ; 
Supported by his staff and rod, 
My road is safe and pleasant too." — Newton. 

ALTHOUGH a true scholar will never cease to 
learn, and his intellectual powers will always be 
increasing, still there comes a time in his life when 
his mind is said to be mature. So in this process of 
spiritual growth there is a point, reached sooner or 
later, at which the Christian character may be said to 
be mature, or in one sense, perfect. To quote the 
author of " Credo:" "The Holy Ghost, if admitted 
into the soul, and if cherished there, begets a new and 
divine life, which is subsequently developed, and 
which manifests itself through the sensibilities, intel- 
lect, and will. The different conditions expressed by 
the terms ' justification/ ' conversion/ and ' sanctifi- 
cation/ begin at the same instant. But not until the 
old man gives way entirely to this new one, not un- 
til the person is really and throughout a new creature 
"spiritually, does the w T ork reach completeness. It is 
then called entire sanctification. Why need writers 
mystify so simple a subject ?" 



56 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

The Scriptures very frequently speak of this greater 
maturity or completeness, and exhort us to attain to it. 
"Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let 
us go on unto perfection, not laying again the founda- 
tion of repentance from dead works and of faith to- 
wards God." " Be perfect, as your Father in heaven 
is perfect," not absolute perfection, but Christian per- 
fection. " Be perfect, by having a heart purified 
from all hate, and filled with all love. If thy vessel 
be filled with love, God can be no more than full. 
He is the perfect infinite, thou art the perfect finite. 
The shrine of a temple was the perfect image of the 
temple. The temple was a perfect temple, the shrine 
was a perfect shrine. They were different in magni- 
tude, but they were alike perfect. Our Savior in this 
command distinctly affirms that perfectness in its 
evangelical sense consists in the indwelling reign of 
love in our hearts. It is a practical promise which 
is implied in the prayer of the apostle, and is ex- 
pressly limited to this life, when he prays : * The 
only God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray 
God your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ.' And it is a practical precept which St. 
James gives : ' That ye may be perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing.' 

"Against these promises of the complete reign of 
love in the heart, completing our Christian life, it is 
useless to quote those imperfections and failings which 
belong to men as men, arising from the limitations 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 57 

of the human mind. Neither St. Paul nor St. James 
expected that the Christians they addressed would be 
perfect like angels, or even ideally perfect men, nor 
perfect performers of God's absolute law. But they 
did expect that the law of love might possess a perfect 
power in their hearts, and in that would consist the 
perfect character of their piety."* The imperfections 
of the Christian's physical nature will not be entirely 
removed in this life. The same may be said of his 
intellectual nature. The unfavorable effects of these ' 
imperfections will always be seen in the best Chris- 
tian's moral nature. These must, in all fairness, be 
set down as infirmities, for which we are not respon- 
sible; but, if entirely sanctified, actual sin, positive 
moral corruption, will not remain in us. 

As an illustration, let us suppose that a man who 
is naturally quick-tempered and passionate, or, if you 
please, of a quarrelsome disposition, repents, believes, 
and is pardoned and regenerated. By constant watch- 
fulness and dependence upon God he now has grace 
to control his passions, even under great provocation. 
When insulted or injured he still is conscious of a 
strong feeling of resentment ; he must even confess to 
a strong desire, at times, to indulge his old propensi- 
ties, and break out into an open quarrel. All this 
troubles him ; but, by the help of God, does not 
conquer him. He remains outwardly master of the 
situation ; but inwardly there is a great struggle. To 



• Dr. Whedon's Commentary on Matthew, v. 48. 



58 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

have these propensities removed, to be no longer 
troubled and hindered by this inward struggle, to find 
it a natural and an easy thing to exercise perfect for- 
giveness, to realize a constant spirit of love, instead 
of resentment, towards all who injure him, to love 
God so perfectly, so supremely, that under all circum- 
stances he shall love his neighbor as he loves himself, — 
this is the blessing he desires, this is the blessing God 
is ready to bestow upon him w T hen he is ready to re- 
ceive it. 

Take another illustration. A converted man some- 
times finds attendance upon the means of grace, 
prayer, thorough study of the Scriptures, public and 
private work for the Church, and especially the seJf- 
denial necessary to keep himself unspotted from the 
world, irksome, and requiring a constant and some- 
times painful effort on his part. By grace he suc- 
ceeds in performing all these duties, and he is con- 
scious of divine approval ; but it is not easy, there is 
too much opposition from within. To have all this 
inward opposition removed, to have these various 
Christian duties a delight to the soul, to have no de- 
sires contrary to duty, to love God so supremely that 
he shall ' ' serve him with a perfect heart and with a 
willing mind — " this is the blessing which the growing 
Christian longs for, and which God is willing to be- 
stow upon him. 

Again, the religious life of some who are un- 
doubtedly converted is too often a succession of tu- 
mults and calms, trusting God one day and doubting 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 59 

him the next, the clouds so quickly and invariably 
following the sunshine that there is no settled reli- 
able experience. To rest in Christ, and never doubt 
him, to have constant peace, to be constantly growing, 
to maintain a constant assurance of acceptance with 
God, — this is the blessing promised us, and after which 
every young Christian should prayerfully struggle. 

Mr. Wesley defines entire sanctification as " perfect 
love ;" and as to whether this blessing is instantane- 
ously or gradually bestowed, he says: "The separation 
of sin from the soul is constantly preceded and fol- 
lowed by a gradual work ; but is that separation in 
itself instantaneous, or is it not? In examining this, 
let us go on step by step. An instantaneous change 
has been wrought in some believers; none can deny 
this. Since that change they enjoy perfect love. 
They feel this, and this alone. They ' rejoice ever- 
more, pray without ceasing, and in every thing give 
thanks.' Now this is all that I mean by perfection. 
Therefore these are witnesses of the perfection which 
I preach. But in some this change was not instanta- 
neous. They did not perceive the instant when it was 
wrought. It is often difficult to perceive the instant 
when a man dies; yet there is an instant when life 
ceases. And if ever sin ceases, there must be a last 
moment of its existence, and a first moment of our 
deliverance from it." 

Entire sanctification is not contemporary with re- 
generation, neither does it usually immediately follow 
regeneration, although sometimes it may. Usually 



60 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

this grace of perfect love is attained after months or 
even years of spiritual growth ; when, by maintaining 
its justified relation before God, the soul comes to de- 
sire greatly this blessing, to be intelligent in regard to 
its reception, to be perfectly willing to receive it, to 
put itself into a proper position or relation to receive 
it, to believe in it, and to believe for it. Perfection 
of love is the highest state of grace attainable in this 
life, although, so far as degrees are concerned, even 
such a love will be characterized by a rapid growth. 

My purpose here is simply to direct the attention 
of young Christians to the attainableness of this high 
state of grace, and to impress upon their minds the 
fact that the precise time when it may be looked for 
and entered into depends altogether upon their dili- 
gence and the rapidity of their spiritual growth. I 
must refer my readers to such valuable works as 
Bishop Peck's " Central Idea of Christianity," and 
Bishop Foster's "Christian Purity; or, The Heritage 
of Faith," for a thorough discussion of the subject. Es- 
pecially let me exhort them to go to the Scriptures, 
and in earnest prayer to God, for light and guidance 
in this important matter. The Scriptures most cer- 
tainly recognize and urge us to the attainment of a 
state of grace, a state of spiritual maturity, which 
they call perfect love ; a pure and supreme love to- 
wards God. 

Young Christian, you have every reason to believe 
that this state of grace may be sought, obtained, and 
enjoyed now. Mark well the words of that eminent 



EXTIRE SAXCTIFICATION. 61 

servant of God, Bishop Simpson : "It is not necessary 
that we travel clown into the valley to find the Pool 
of Siloam, and wait for the coming of the angel to 
trouble the waters, and for some strong man to lift 
us and put us in. No ; the fountain is all around us, 
and flows divinely clear. The Son of God is waiting 
at this very moment to wash all our sins away. Have 
you a single stain upon your heart? — come to the 
fountain. Have you trouble and sorrow ? — come at 
once, and receive joy and comfort." 

Dear reader, seek this blessing, and seek it now. 
Having -through grace attained unto it, all conflict 
between inclination and duty will cease in your life, 
all hinderances to your spiritual growth will be re- 
moved, the gift of power will be bestowed upon you, 
and God will certainly permit you to do a very great 
w r ork for him and for his Church. I once heard Mr. 
Moody give an account of his own baptism from above 
for the wonderful work to which God has called him. 
It was the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and it came upon 
him while he was walking the streets — a characteristic 
way for the baptism of just such a man. The love 
of God was so poured into his heart, in answer to 
months of earnest prayer, that he had to cry, " Lord, 
stay thy hand!" Since that hour, he testified with 
tears, he had been "turned into another man." "0," 
he said, "how easy and how siveet it has been ever 
since then to work for Jesus !" It seemed as if he had 
been enabled to do more in the four years which imme- 
diately followed this blessing than in all his life before. 



62 AT THE THRESHOLD. 



dljkptef IX. 

PRAYER. 

" More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of, 
Wherefore let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day; 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not those hands of prayer, 
Both for themselves and those who call them friends ? 
For so the whole round earth is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." 

— Alfred Tennyson. 

npRUE prayer is just as indispensable to religious 
-*- life as air is to physical life. A prayerless Chris- 
tian is no Christian at all. 

Prayer may be mental and vocal, the will and 
affections corresponding with the external act; or it 
may be purely mental ; or it may be simply our de- 
sires going out after God without being clothed in 
words. In either case prayer is "the direct inter- 
course of the spirit of man with the spiritual and un- 
seen Creator. God is a spirit ; and they that worship 
him must worship him in spirit and in truth." As 
briefly and well-defined in the Westminster Catechism, 
"Prayer is the offering of our desires to God for 
things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, 



PRAYEK. 63 

with confession of our sins, and a thankful acknowl- 
edgment of his mercies." The Holy Scriptures, in 
addition to the general idea of prayer, which runs like 
a golden thread through every chapter, are rich in 
clear definitions and positive precepts touching the 
nature and duty of prayer. 

True prayer, in any and every form, is God's or- 
dained medium for the expression of our faith in him, 
and in his power to save. A faith which does not 
express itself in prayer is a dead faith. The Christian, 
especially, should cherish in his soul a controlling sense 
of God's absolute sovereignty both in the physical and 
the moral worlds,- and of our utter dependence upon 
him. This is best done by cherishing the true spirit 
of prayer. Every manly man has a certain independ- 
ence of character which, if not tempered by grace, 
will lead him to ignore God, to magnify and trust in 
the agency of secondary causes, to grow proud of his 
own wisdom, and build upon his own foundation. To 
correct this tendency, and to link this noble trait of 
character with his own attributes and thus perfect it, 
God has suspended his choicest blessings — those bless- 
ings which are the most necessary to us — upon the 
exercise of prayer; an act which has its root in faith, 
and blossoms out in the most cheerful and beautiful 
obedience to the Father's will. 

In one sense nature answers back to Scripture, and 
not only makes the duty and obligation of prayer ap- 
parent from the very condition of our being, but act- 
ually makes the tendency to pray part of our moral 



64 AT THE TIIKESHOLD. 

constitution. A thoughtful man soon becomes pain- 
fully conscious of his helplessness in the world when 
he attempts to go beyond a certain limited sphere of 
knowledge and power. The more he knows the less 
he knows. He is ignorant of the future, ignorant of 
the very things he most desires to know touching 
the universe and God and his own being. A little 
experience brings him humbly to admit that he needs 
support, direction, wisdom from some source, from 
some being outside of and higher than himself. God 
is that being. How fitting it is that we gratefully 
acknowledge him as the Author of all good, and the 
Infinite Source of all our blessings! How suitable 
that we should acknowledge our sinfulness, and, in 
the name of Christ, plead for his pardon, and that he 
continue to us his temporal and spiritual favors ! 

Prayer, in one form or another, is natural to man. 
When men are at ease, and the current of life runs 
smoothly they may have but few thoughts of God, 
and no thought of praying to him. But when trouble 
comes, and human resources fail, and human helpless- 
ness becomes apparent, it is then they turn to and 
cry out after God, with an instinct as strong as that 
which impels the child to rush into its father's arms 
in the moment of danger. This instinct is not the 
result of education in a Christian land; for all men, 
everywhere, pray — the Christian to his God ; the Per- 
sian to the sun, or fire ; the Chinaman to his image 
of carved wood, or to the spirits of his departed an- 
cestors; the Hindoo to his gods many and lords 



PRAYER, 65 

many ; the African to his fetich, or his idol of molded 
mud. 

The influence of true prayer is not alone subjec- 
tive, as some affirm ; or valuable only for the effect 
which the suppliant produces on himself. In the first 
place, we can not conceive of a loving and merciful 
God as thus trifling with his creatures in the results 
of a duty which he has so constantly enjoined upon 
them ; for no intelligent man can pray, or will at- 
tempt to pray, when he has no faith in the being to 
whom he prays, and only hopes to produce an empty 
emotion in himself. The thing is an absurdity; and 
is flatly contradicted in those commands of Scripture 
which prompt us to pray for temporal as well as spir- 
itual blessings, and suspend so much that is necessary 
to us on the act of prayer — prayer which moves God. 

God has plainly and repeatedly taught us in his 
Word that he will be inquired of in prayer, that 
there are innumerable blessings which he will bestow 
or withhold according as we pray or neglect to pray 
for them, and that he himself will be influenced, in 
his dealings with us, by true prayer. For proof of 
all this let the reader study carefully the Scriptural 
teachings in regard to this vital duty. 

Sir Walter Raleigh one day asking a favor from 
Queen Elizabeth, the latter said to him, "Ealeigh, 
when will you leave off begging?" To which he re- 
plied, "When your majesty leaves off giving." So 
let us ever be asking from God, who is ever giving, 
and ever willing to give. 

5 



66 AT THE THKESHOLD. 

True prayer is importunate. The " asking," " seek- 
ing," "knocking," spoken of in the seventh chapter 
of Matthew ; Jacob wrestling all night with the angel, 
and crying, "I will not let thee go except thou bless 
me ;" and especially the Syro-Phoenician Woman, who 
would let no repulse, however humiliating, thwart her 
settled purpose to secure the Master's blessing for her 
child, — these, with thousands of less notable instances 
given in the sacred record, convince us that prayer 
is no faint desire of the soul, which comes and goes 
like the smile on the face of a thoughtless child, but 
is a settled purpose of a man's whole being, and in- 
volves all the earnestness and energy of his nature. 
In the words of Coleridge to his nephew : ' ' Believe 
me, to pray with all your heart and strength, with 
the reason and will, to believe vividly that God will 
listen to your voice through Christ, and verily do the 
thing that pleaseth him at last — this is the last, the 
greatest achievement of the Christian's warfare on 
earth." Teach us to pray, Lord! 

This kind of persistence in prayer involves a faith 
which reveals itself in implicit obedience to God, and 
a positive expectation that he will answer, in his own 
good time and way; a faith which itself evidences a 
complete consecration of life to God, and a complete 
submission to his will ; a faith which knows that God 
will always do what is best for us, and, leaving the 
matter entirely in his hands, is just as ready to be 
thankful for a refusal as for an answer to prayer. 

St. Paul besought God thrice that he would re- 



PRAYEE. 67 

move a great trouble, which he likened unto a thorn 
in the flesh. This petition he offered in the spirit 
above defined; and, at last, God answered, not by 
actually removing the trouble, but just as effectually, 
by giving him grace and strength cheerfully to bear 
it. This teaches us that God's promise to answer 
prayer is always qualified by his knowledge of what 
is best for us; and that therefore he will sometimes 
answer in a manner which we did not expect, but 
which is much more effective for our relief. Hence, 
every prayer should be characterized by the spirit 
which finds expression in the words: " Father, thy 
will, not mine, be done!" 

"Good prayers," says Leighton, "never come 
weeping home. I am sure I will receive what I ask, 
or what I should ask." 

The command to "pray without ceasing," enjoins 
upon us the cultivation of a constant spirit of prayer, 
that our hearts may always be in a receptive state, 
and that our lives may always be subject to divine 
control and guidance. 

I desire especially to impress upon young Chris- 
tians the importance of secret prayer. This is to be 
the great antagonistic force against the pressure of 
evil which surrounds us continually ; it should there- 
fore be habitual and frequent. It is absolutely essen- 
tial to our spiritual health that we regularly enter our 
closets, shut to the door, read and meditate upon 
God's Word, calmly look within, and see how matters 
stand between our souls and Christ, and what are our 



68 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

most urgent wants ; then pour out our souls to God in 
earnest prayer. Take plenty of time each day for 
this exercise, my young friend! Otherwise you will 
not grow, and quite likely you will soon fall. Your 
zeal in Church work may be great, but, unless you 
are much in secret prayer, it will be a zeal not ac- 
cording to knowledge; you will be spiritually weak, 
and sooner or later will bring reproach upon the 
cause you are now seeking to advance. The Church 
may rapidly promote you, and place great responsi- 
bilities upon you, but you will certainly disappoint all 
her expectations, unless you learn to love and draw 
constant strength and wisdom from secret prayer ; and, 
in the end, you will certainly have to take up the 
words of Solomon and confess : ' ' They made me a 
keeper of vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not 
kept." It is better for your business interests to suf- 
fer, if need be, than to dwarf and starve your soul's 
life by neglecting this duty. But this will seldom, if 
ever, be necessary; for by making this an indispen- 
sable part of your daily occupation, you can easily 
arrange for it, so that it will come in its regular 
order. If you do this, it will not be long before you 
will be constantly looking forward to the hour set 
apart for uninterrupted communion with God, as the 
brightest, the most enjoyable, and the most profitable 
of all the day. 

Young Christian, you can't live without regular 
secret prayer; with it you can live, and grow, and 
reach and maintain a blessed spiritual maturity. 



PRAYER. 69 

Show me a Christian who neglects this duty, and you 
will have shown me one who knows but little of the 
life and power of godliness. We are told, in ancient 
history, that it was thought by the people that Numa 
Pompilius — the second and the wisest king of Rome — ■ 
was accustomed to retire to the forest, and receive 
wisdom and instruction from the goddess Egeria — 
who met him in secret — and then came forth to 
triumph in the government, and over his enemies. 
So the Christian, in careful, thoughtful, secret prayer, 
receives from the Holy Spirit strength equal to his 
day, and wisdom to meet all his public responsibili- 
ties, and to circumvent all his spiritual foes. 

All strong Christians give much time to secret 
prayer. Dr. Payson writes: " Since I began, when 
a student, to ask God's blessing on my studies, I have 
done more in one week than in one year before." 
Luther, when most pressed with his gigantic toils, 
said to a friend : "I have so much to do that I can 
not get on without three hours a day of prayer." 
General Havelock arose at four in the morning — if 
the hour for marching was six — rather than lose the 
precious privilege of communion with God before set- 
ting out. Sir Matthew Hale said: " If I omit pray- 
ing and reading God's Word in the morning, nothing 
goes well all day." 

The duties of family and public prayer will con- 
stantly be brought before you by the Scriptures and 
the Church, as your spiritual life begins to broaden 
and put on strength ; and if you learn to love secret 



70 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

prayer, these duties will be pleasant rather than dis- 
tasteful to you, and the regular practice of prayer at 
all appropriate times will cause those graces which go 
to make up a well-rounded, reliable, useful Christian 
character not only to be in you but to abound. 

" Lord, I have shut my door, 

Shut out life's busy cares and fretting noise : 
Here in this silence they intrude no more. 

Speak thou, and heavenly joys 
Shall rill my heart with music sweet and calm — 

A holy psalm." 

It is objected to prayer, (1) That as God is infinitely 
wise and good, his wisdom and justice will lead him to 
bestow whatever is fit and best for us without praying. 
(2) That the answer to prayer would be a violation 
of natural law T , since by that law every thing comes 
to us in a certain chain of cause and effect which our 
praying can not disturb or render more favorable to 
us. These are the tw T o most important objections to 
a belief in the efficacy of prayer. It does not come 
within the plan of these brief chapters to argue much 
against objections, but it seems to me that this entire 
question about the possibility or propriety of answers 
to prayers, naturally narrows itself down into one as 
to the existence of God. To those who deny the ex- 
istence of a supreme, creative intelligence, and an in- 
fallible revelation of his will, I have here nothing to 
say; to those who admit the existence of God and 
his revealed Word, it is sufficient for me to say that 
since our Father must have complete control over his 



PKAYER. 71 

own works, and the laws which regulate them, and 
since he has commanded us to pray, and promised to 
answer our prayers, it is the most reasonable of all 
acts for us to obey his command and expect the fulfill- 
ment of his pledges, confidently believing that he will 
do no violence to his laws by granting that in answer 
to our prayer which he w r ould withhold were we pray- 
er less. In the words of a clear writer upon this sub- 
ject: " Laws, rightly understood, are the servants of 
-God, and not his masters ; the channels through 
w T hich he has chosen ordinarily to communicate ma- 
terial blessings to his creatures, and not the chains 
which bind him from coming to their assistance. 
Even the will and intelligence of man himself can, 
within certain limits, employ the laws of nature in 
granting the requests which his friend may make; 
and if that be so, is there any absurdity in supposing 
that the will of the highest intelligence, to wdioni all 
things are subservient, may not employ these laws, 
in answering his people's prayers?" 



72 AT THE THRESHOLD. 



ClVaptef X. 

STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 

"Art builds on sand; the works of pride 
And human passion change and fall; 
But that which shares the life of God 

With him surviveth all." — Whittier. 

WHEiST Eadwine, one of the early English kings, 
contemplated becoming a Christian, he sought 
the counsel of his oldest and chief men, who gathered 
to deliberate on the new faith which they were ex- 
horted to embrace in place of the pagan worship of 
Woden and Thunder. "To finer minds the charm 
of Christianity lay then, as now, in the light it threw 
on the darkness which encompassed men's lives — the 
darkness of the future as of the past. ' So seems the 
life of man, O king,' burst forth an aged Ealdarman, 
' as a sparrow's flight through the hall when a man is 
sitting at meat in Winter-tide, with the warm fire 
lighted on the hearth, but the chill rain storm with- 
out. The sparrow flies in at one door, and tarries for 
a moment in the light and heat of the hearth-fire, and 
then flying forth from the other vanishes into the 
wintry darkness whence it came. So tarries for a 
moment the life of man in our sight; but what is 
before it, what after it, we know not. If this new 



STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 16 

teaching tell us aught certainly of these, let us follow 
it.' "* The natural longings of the human soul for 
religious knowledge are met in the Bible ; and this 
"new teaching" has never failed to satisfy all hearts 
that have received it. The Bible is a book of certain- 
ties, throwing full light upon all those points which 
have most closely engaged the attention of thoughtful 
men. When rightly understood it is to be received 
as the infallible Word of God. It is to us the only 
authoritative revelation of the will of God. From it 
alone come to men correct ideas of the one self-exist- 
ent God, our Creator ; of the origin and immortality 
of the human soul; the nature of sin, and the rem- 
edy for sin ; the true object of life ; the joys of heaven 
and the miseries of hell; the love of God for his 
creatures, his will concerning them, and his fatherly 
care over them. Of course, then, the Bible should 
be constantly read and studied by the Christian that 
he may be to the fullest possible extent intelligent in 
his spiritual life. Careful study of the Word of God 
is just as indispensable to religious life as food is to 
physical life. All growing Christians are huge and 
hungry feeders on the Bible; indeed, the Word prayer- 
fully studied should be the chief mental diet of a 
healthy believer. Those who do not cultivate this 
kind of devotion to the Word speedily dwindle into 
spiritual dwarfs. 

The Bible is its own best defender. Infidelity will 



* Green's " History of the English People," Volume I, 
page 46. 



74 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

be contemned, and Christianity exalted in proportion to 
men's real knowledge of Scripture. The great work 
of the Church is not to apologize for the Bible, but 
to proclaim it — to persuade men to study it. If un- 
converted men can be led to apprehend the truth, 
there w T ill be no trouble about their believing it. 
Give it free course in the w 7 orld ; let men fairly try it, 
and prove it by careful study ; and the Bible wdll need 
no bolstering up, but- in its ow r n inherent, divine 
strength will go forth to conquer all hearts. 

The Bible has a peculiar interest for the converted 
soul. Mr. Monod illustrates that fact as follows: " A 
young lady once received a book of much interest. 
After she had read it she w 7 as satisfied, and put it 
aside on the shelf. The author of that book w T as in- 
troduced into her father's house, proved to be a man 
of noble position, and finally offered her marriage, 
which she accepted. Then she took dow T n the book 
from the shelf, and every page had a fresher and 
deeper interest for her. Thus, espoused to Christ 
Jesus, w r e find the Bible yet the most precious of 
books." There is a hidden meaning, a subtile sweet- 
ness, of which before we had no knowledge, and to 
which the most cultivated irreligious minds are strang- 
ers. A genuine love for the Bible, a love w 7 hich per- 
haps is somewhat faint at first, but which w T ill grow 
stronger by cultivation, is one of the proofs we have 
that our hearts are changed, and we are renewed by 
the power of the Holy Spirit. The Supreme Intelli- 
gence, who inspired the Word, shines into our hearts 



STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 75 

and minds, and in an especial manner helps us to 
comprehend and feast upon his truth. 

A young Christian should not be content with 
merely reading the Bible, either by course or in de- 
tached portions, but should cultivate the habit of 
studying, of searching the Scriptures in a thoughtful, 
prayerful manner. The most precious of metals is 
not found by the casual passer-by, and like stones or 
quartz picked up by the wayside. Only those who 
are skilled in examining and sifting the sands from 
the bed of the rapid river, or in slowly sinking the 
deep shaft, and tracing the ore-veins hundreds of feet 
beneath the surface, find out the cunning hiding-places 
of the treasure and bring it to light as the reward of 
their industry. So the Bible is the deepest of all 
mines, and the purest gold of the Gospel is only found 
by those who give their best powers to the work- of 
searching for it. The careless reader is always com- 
plaining of confusion and want of harmony in Scrip- 
ture. To such a one the following words are re- 
markably well adapted : 1 1 The Bible contains a 
complete system of theology, a complete system of 
ethics ; but it is as the heavens contain a system of 
astronomy, or as the earth contains a system of geol- 
ogy ; and the eye of the listless reader may wander 
over it for years and not discover that God has placed 
in his Word a perfect organization of theology and 
of ethics ; but the earnest student of the Bible sees it 
and rejoices in it. It is with careless readers of Scrip- 
ture as it was with mankind who trod the earth for 



7b AT THE THRESHOLD. 

nearly six thousand years, and never dreamed its sur- 
face was a regular structure, with its strata arranged 
in systematic order, and each stratum presenting a 
beautiful lesson and unfolding its grand history." 

But now as the result of sanctified study, that 
lesson and that history, harmonizing with the lesson 
and history of the Bible, call upon all men to rev- 
erence, to love, and to obey the God both of nature 
and revelation. The men who have been, and are 
now the most learned, and who by their life-long 
study of the Bible are the most competent to pass 
judgment upon it, have been the firmest believers in 
its truths. Coleridge, in one of the remarkable letters 
which he wrote upon the inspiration of the Bible, 
says: "In the Bible there is more that finds me than 
I have experienced in all other books put together. 
The words of the Bible find me at greater depths of my 
being: and whatever finds me brings with it an irre- 
sistible evidence of having proceeded from the Holy 
Spirit." We must lay great stress upon the words of 
that profound logician, Bishop Butler: "To all who 
take up the oracles of God with integrity and honesty, 
the Bible will ever possess the peculiarity of meeting 
every want and appeasing every difficulty. In its 
pages every longing of our nature (the most superficial 
and the most profound) will find satisfaction. " 

In his dying hour, the great statesman, Wilber- 
force, said to a friend: "Study the Bible; let no 
religious book take its place. Through all my per- 
plexities and distresses I never read any other book, 



STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 77 

and I never knew the want of any other. It has been 
my hourly study; and all my knowledge of the doc- 
trines, and all my acquaintance with the experience 
and realities, of religion have been derived from the 
Bible only." Daniel Webster, when commended on a 
certain occasion for his eloquence, replied: " If any 
thing I have ever said or written deserves the feeblest 
encomium of my fellow-countrymen, I have no hesi- 
tation in declaring that for their partiality I am in- 
debted, solely indebted, to the daily and attentive 
perusal of the Holy Scriptures, the source of all true 
poetry and eloquence, as well as all good and all 
comfort," and all who are familiar with the great 
senator's grandly simple style will have no hesitancy 
in accepting his statement. 

"Thy creatures," said Lord Bacon, "have been 
my books, but thy Scriptures much more. I have 
sought thee in courts, fields, and gardens, but I have 
found thee in thy temples." Said Sir Isaac Newton : 
' ' We account the Scriptures of God to be the most 
sublime philosophy." Thomas, Lord Erskine, wrote: 
" My firm belief in the holy Gospel is by no means 
owing to the prejudices of education, but it arises from 
the most continued reflections of my riper years and 
understanding." Testimonies similar to these could 
be produced almost indefinitely from the very first 
thinkers of our own and other times. 

You should cultivate the habit of studying the 
Bible daily, accompanying the exercise with earnest 
prayer for divine guidance. Few men get suddenly 



78 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

rich. Most private fortunes are made by the slow 
accumulations of years of industry and close attention 
to business. So with the riches of Scriptural wisdom. 
It is by no sudden effort of the intellect, but by oft- 
repeated research and thought that the mind becomes 
master of them. There are depths there which no 
brief, spasmodic effort can fathom; and, although 
every thing essential to salvation is there made very 
plain, still there are hidden gems that even the wisest 
and strongest can secure only by years of daily search. 

In the study of the Scriptures, we should read just 
a& much each day as we can digest — just as much as 
we can think over and understand. You may over- 
read. "Some persons who want to be vigorous and 
strong say, ' To eat is the way to become so,' and 
they gorge their stomachs with food and overtax their 
powers, and make themselves weak and stupid by ex- 
cessive eating. And you may eat too much Bible as 
well as too much bread." 

If you are pressed for time, then spend the pre- 
cious moments on a portion of a chapter. When even 
a single verse especially impresses you, let it be the 
subject for meditation during the entire day; in this 
manner you are to wait for the blessing to come from 
the Divine Word. Hastily skimming over a chapter 
or two each day, as a mere matter of duty or prin- 
ciple, is never beneficial ; it is really a waste of time, 
and an impertinence before God. It is far better to 
take a fragrant and nutritious bit, a verse or a word 
perhaps, and let it lie in the mind, and fill the soul 



STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 79 

with its sweetness for a clay or a week or a month at 
a time. 

It is well to make a reasonable use of commenta- 
ries and other helps to a proper understanding of the 
Word ; but you should not lay too much stress upon 
these. "An unlettered man, having received as a 
present from a friend a copy of Shakespeare, with 
notes, was subsequently asked how he liked the book. 
He said that he could understand the reading very 
well, and he hoped that after a while he should be 
able to understand the notes !" Plain minds can usually 
understand the plain Word best without such a 
profusion of comment and exposition. Compare Scrip- 
ture with Scripture. Look out all the references. 
Find out all that the Bible says upon a particular sub- 
ject. Be a close student of the Word itself, after 
which, if you deem it necessary, find out what schol- 
ars say about it. There is a marvelous power for 
mind and heart illumination in the simple text of 
Scripture when thoroughly prayed over and meditated 
upon. Of the power of the Bible alone to lead men 
to the Savior, a successful missionary leaves remark- 
able testimony. His attention was called, in examin- 
ing converts from paganism, to the oft-repeated men- 
tion of the New Testament as the only means used 
by the Spirit to lead them to Christ. Noting such 
cases afterward, he found that "more than two-thirds 
of the two hundred cateehists, . lay preachers, and 
schoolmasters had been aroused to a sense of their 
danger while living in sin, and had afterwards obtained 



80 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

peace solely through, reading their Testaments, with- 
out haying received any counsel, admonition, or spir- 
itual instruction from any one." 

Constantly study the Bible for the purpose of 
qualifying yourself to instruct others, and to intelli- 
gently bear your part in the religious services of the 
Church; but particularly let me remind you of the 
importance of reading and studying the Word for the 
nourishment of your own soul. Do n't starve your own 
life in your zeal to provide food for others. Prayer- 
fully search the Scriptures ; search them daily. This 
is the only way to become strong, to grow, to attain 
maturity, to bear much fruit, to keep the mind from 
religious error, to successfully combat infidelity, to 
cultivate a love w r hich shall be as broad as the world 
and as high as heaven. 



SOCIAL LIFE AND AMUSEMENTS. 81 



dtikf>tei5 XL 

SOCIAL LIFE AND AMUSEMENTS. 

HISTOEY records that " in the days of Tiberius, 
it was thought a crime to carry a ring stamped 
with the image of Augustus into any mean or sordid 
place where it might be polluted." With the same 
exalted sense of the majesty and purity of the Master 
whom we serve, let us be careful how we carry his 
"image and superscription" into any associations un- 
worthy of him, or where we shall be in danger of 
bringing a reproach upon his name. 

One of the very first questions which a young 
Christian will ask is: How am I to decide between 
the seemingly conflicting claims of social life and the 
Church ; especially as to the matter of popular amuse- 
ments? No direct statements are made in Scripture 
in regard to many recreations and amusements which 
some strongly condemn and others as strongly sanc- 
tion. There is here a conflict of opinion between dif- 
ferent denominations, and even between different 
members of the same communion. Some stoutly con- 
tend for ' ' liberal " and ' ' advanced " notions as to our 
associations with the world, while others as earnestly 
insist upon ' ' old-fashioned " and ■ ' Scriptural " prac- 
tices. How, therefore, are we to know just exactly 
6 



82 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

what course to pursue? Indiscriminate and indefi- 
nite condemnation of popular recreations does not help 
us. Young people must have amusements as well as 
solid occupation; and we need explicit instruction as 
to what associations are right and what are wrong; 
we need clearly to understand the principles upon 
which our decisions ought to be made. 

I think I can best answer these natural and im- 
portant inquiries by referring my young friends to 
certain general principles which have their root in 
Scripture, and which apply to the daily conduct of all 
true Christians. 

The first may be stated in the words of St. Paul : 
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever 
ye do, do all to the glory of God." "And whatso- 
ever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of 
the Lord Jesus." A Christian is a pledged follower 
of Christ, a laborer together with Christ; such obliga- 
tions and relations are altogether too high and holy to 
be, even for a moment, trifled with. 

The fair name of the Church is, to a certain ex- 
tent, in every Christian's keeping ; his life will be the 
standard by which many will insist upon judging the 
Church; and the only rule by which he may safely 
test the correctness of any practice is the revealed 
w T ill of God. When God speaks, it is "second na- 
ture" for the honest, consecrated Christian to cheer- 
fully obey. Human standards of opinion and practice 
are constantly changing. God's standard is ever the 
same ; and strict conformity to it will enable one to be 



SOCIAL LIFE AND AMUSEMENTS. 83 

in the world, and at the same time, not to be of the 
world ; to come in contact with social life, at every 
necessary point, and yet maintain one's integrity. 

A Christian is to be united to the world, and yet 
to be separate from it ; united in the sense that Christ 
was when he ate with publicans and sinners, when he 
attended the marriage feast, when he stood by the 
grave of his friend, when he conversed with and in- 
structed the learned Pharisees, and when he took little 
children in his arms to bless them ; always in full 
sympathy with the hopes and fears, the joys and sor- 
rows of humanity; always understanding the real 
necessities of men ; always anxious to lift them heav- 
enward ; always loving them, and always showing 
that love by self-sacrificing efforts to inspire their con- 
fidence and to do them good. He is separate in the 
sense that Christ was when he maintained his integ- 
rity under the fierce temptations of Satan, and the 
plausible demands of the high and learned men of 
the nation ; when he boldly denounced the sins of the 
people, reproved those who desecrated the temple, or 
severely rebuked the proud formalists and hypocrites, 
who brought reproach upon the name of religion ; or 
when he stood firm amid the storms of persecution, 
calmly refused to compromise in the least his principles, 
and freely laid down his life to prove his absolute de- 
votion to the truth. Christ was no hermit — he was 
no aristocrat. No one ever got nearer to the hearts 
of common men than he ; and yet no man — whether 
Pharisee or sinner, whether learned doctor or isrno* 



84 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

rant fisherman — ever approached Christ without feel- 
ing that there was something about him better than 
the world, and that completely distinguished him 
from the world. This made poor, burdened men con- 
fide in him; this made captive souls hope in him. 
Now, in this, as in all things, Christ is our model. He 
walked among men w r ith a love and devotion to hu- 
manity that won nearly all hearts, and yet he main- 
tained a oneness with the Father which exalted him 
above the world — which kept him pure. This was 
the secret of his power, this is the secret of every 
good man's power. So Christ most earnestly peti- 
tioned the Father, for his disciples : "I pray not that 
thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that 
thou shouldest keep them from the evil. As thou 
hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent 
them into the world. Sanctify them" — that is, set 
them apart to be holy, to be unlike a wicked world, 
to be a peculiar people — " sanctify them through thy 
truth." 

There is no greater mistake than for a young 
Christian to imagine that he is not to be unlike the 
world. It is no part of our business as Christians, 
by compromising, and temporizing, to break down the 
distinctions — the Scriptural distinctions — between the 
spirit of the world and the disciples of Jesus ; even if 
by so doing we think we may win some souls. Ac- 
cording to an ancient fable, the moon in an eclipse 
complained to the sun, saying: "Why, my dearest 
friend, dost thou not shine upon me, as usual?" " Do 



SOCIAL LIFE AND AMUSEMENTS. 85 

I not?" said the sun. " I am sure I am shining as I 
always do ; why do you not enjoy my light as usual ?" 
" O, I see," said the moon, "the earth has got be- 
tween us." Young Christian, the Sun of righteous- 
ness always shines ; and it is your business to be so 
thoroughly united to the true Church, to be so uncom- 
promisingly identified with the truth, to stand out so 
completely from the world that the light may con- 
stantly fall on you, warming you into life and growth, 
and fruitfulness. 

The plain command of the apostle furnishes a test 
that may be used as a touchstone in all doubtful 
cases which arise in our social relations and enjoy- 
ments. The simple question is, Can this be done in 
the name of the Lord Jesus ? When you come up to 
the door of any place of amusement, towards which 
your footsteps may have tended — especially a place 
which is usually frequented by irreligious persons — 
when you are about to engage in any occupation or re- 
creation that is in the slightest degree doubtful, be sure 
prayerfully to ask this question : Would Christ approve 
of this ! Can I ask his presence and blessing as I en- 
ter here ? * ' Rev. George Whitefield was at one time 
solicited by a professed Christian lady to play a game 
of cards, and then go to the theater, where a cele- 
brated actor was to perform, and where many cold- 
hearted, careless professors of religion would be found. 
When first asked, he made no objection, and when, 
the cards were produced, and they were 'seated at the 
table, he said : ' Let us ask the blessing of God.' 



86 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

* Ask the blessing of God at a game of cards V ex- 
claimed the astonished lady; 'I never heard of such 
a thing.' Mr. Whitefield replied: 'Ought we to en- 
gage in any thing on which we can not ask his bless- 
ing, and at which we can not ask his presence?' 
This ended the game ; and it need not be added that 
the lady failed to urge his attendance upon the 
theater." 

Amusements are not the business of life. They 
are not to be regarded as necessities, but as luxuries ; 
there is, therefore, great fitness in the following 
words: "Let amusements fill up the chinks in your 
existence, not the great spaces thereof. Let your 
pleasures be taken as Daniel took his prayers — with 
his window open; pleasures which need not cause a 
single blush on an ingenuous cheek." If the devil 
ever laughs in his sleeve, it is when he has persuaded 
a professed Christian to compromise in a doubtful 
matter ; for he knows that a little yielding from the 
strict line of right and duty will, if continued, end in 
coldness, carelessness, indifference, and finally com- 
plete apostasy. Compromising Christians are Satan's 
faithful allies ; his decoys, by which he entices crowds 
of weak-minded ones into his net ; while, on the 
other hand, uncompromising Christians are the pillars 
of the Church, and the chosen instruments whereby 
God will convert this world to his truth. There is no 
point where Satan is trying more skillfully — or with 
more subtile plausibility — to rub out the Scriptural 
line of separation between the Church and the world 



SOCIAL LIFE AND AMUSEMENTS. 87 

than at this point of popular amusements. For that 
reason, if for no other, an honest Christian can not 
afford to stand in any doubtful position before the 
world. Our wisest course is to be out and out on. 
Christ's side, or else make no pretensions whatever. 
In this fight an open enemy is less dangerous than a 
doubtful friend. 

The second general principle is also clearly stated 
by St. Paul: "Wherefore, if meat make my brother 
to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, 
lest I make my brother to offend." The strict appli- 
cation of this rule will necessitate the disuse of any 
thing, even in itself innocent, by w 7 hich w r e are in 
danger of exerting a hurtful influence over those who 
are weak, and, even unintentionally, leading them 
astray. There are some amusements in which you, 
my young reader, may perhaps safely engage, and 
there are some places of entertainment where you, 
perhaps, may safely enter, but which are not safe for 
others, who, encouraged by your example, may be 
drawn into them to their soul's hurt. There are also 
those connected with you in the Church — call them 
weak and bigoted, if you please — who regard some 
amusements and entertainments as wrong, which you 
regard as harmless, and who would be grieved and 
lose confidence in you if you indulged in them ; and 
perhaps over your indulgence they w T ould stumble 
and fall. 

You are bound by your Church vows to do noth- 
ing that will discourage, but every thing that will 



88 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

encourage, such weak ones, or such as honestly differ 
with you. So, while you are not to yield to bigotry 
or captiousness, yet for the sake of these weak ones, 
for the sake of these conscientious ones, for Christ's 
sake, who wants them helped and saved, you will 
forego these amusements — which are of but little, if 
any, importance — and you will avoid the very ap- 
pearance of evil. If you can not do this, even if it 
cost you a little sacrifice, you will do well to look to 
your evidences, and at once secure a deeper work of 
grace in your heart. 

This second rule will, if its real spirit is observed, 
shut us off from all associations or amusements which 
have, in the least, an injurious effect upon our relig- 
ious life. Conscience must be permitted to speak 
here. Frequent and prayerful self-examination must 
make us intelligent upon this point. Whatever gets 
between us and God, even in the slightest degree, 
must be firmly put away. Whatever interferes with 
prayer or faith, or love or successful effort, even 
slightly, must be resolutely excluded from our lives, 
though the process of pruning be painful. 

The testimony of the Bible will harmonize at this 
point with the past and present experience of all ma- 
ture Christians; and it will not be safe for you, my 
young friend, to attempt any experiments in which 
you hope to make your religious life an exception in 
the Church. If, in returning from any place of 
amusement, or from any social circle, you find that 
the usual reading of God's Word and prayer are in 



SOCIAL LIFE AXD AMUSEMENTS. 89 

any way distasteful to you because of your recent 
associations, then the sooner you positively decide the 
matter, and uncompromisingly choose Christ and the 
joy of the Lord rather than the transient pleasures 
of the world, the better for your spiritual life. You 
must not hesitate here. It must be either God or 
mammon; it can not possibly be both. 

These rules will also exclude tlie excessive use of even 
innocent amusements. A reasonable portion of a young 
Christian's time may be spent in the enjoyment of 
these ; but when they absorb so much time and at- 
tention that important duties are thereby neglected, 
then they become real hinderances to his spiritual de- 
velopment, and must be promptly brought within 
reasonable limits, or abandoned altogether. Some 
amusements are really necessary as healthful recrea- 
tions; beyond this, however, they must not be per- 
mitted to engage our attention and our time, lest they 
unfit us for the grave responsibilities which rest upon 
us as laborers together with Christ and his Church. 
Without doubt, this question of social life and amuse- 
ments is a puzzling one for those Christians who aim at 
living just as near to the world as is possible without 
abandoning altogether Christ and the Church ; but it 
is in no sense troublesome to those who are settled 
and fixed in their determination to be unmistakably 
on the Lord's side. The safest way, the best way, is 
to keep just as far as possible from the danger-line 
which Christ has drawn between his kingdom and 
the kingdom of the world. " There is a story of a 



90 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

gentleman who, wishing to employ a coachman, had 
the candidates before him, and examined them to- 
gether as to their ability to drive his carriage upon 
the verge of a precipice. One could drive safely 
within a foot of the edge ; another within a few inches, 
and still another declared that he could drive with 
the tire projecting over the edge half its width. The 
last one, when asked, replied that for his part, he 
should keep as far off as possible, and he it was that 
won the coveted position." A word to the wise is 
sufficient — avoid the very appearance of evil. 



TEMPTATION. 91 



Clfaptef XII. 

TEMPTATION. 

" Like a cradle rocking, rocking, 

Silent, peaceful, to and fro, 
Like a mother's sweet looks dropping 

On the little face below, 
Hangs the green earth, swinging, turning, 

Jarless, noiseless, safe and slow, 
Falls the light of God's face bending 

Down and watching us beloiv ; 
And as feeble babes that suffer, 

Toss, and cry, and will not rest, 
Are the ones the tender mother 

Holds the closest, loves the best, 
So when we are weak and wretched, 

By our sins- weighed down, distressed, 
Then it is that God's great patience 

Holds us closest, loves us best!" 

— Saxe-Holm. 

npHE word " temptation" really denotes that which 
-*- entices or puts one to the test. In common lan- 
guage it signifies a solicitation or enticement to sin. 
God may, for wise purposes, suffer us to be tempted — 
not to solicit us to sin, but to subject us to trial. He 
does this sometimes for the testing of our faith ; and 
sometimes for our discipline, that the various Chris- 
tian graces may thrive more vigorously in our hearts. 
Especially does he thus try, carefully and watchfully, 



92 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

those upon whom he looks with most favor; those 
whom he seeks to set apart for some great work. St. 
Paul was arrested in the very midst of his glorious 
career as preacher to tne Gentiles, and confined for 
two years in the Roman fortress at Csesarea. Two 
years taken out of the best part of such a life — two 
years of complete isolation from the world, amid the 
depressing influences of a prison — it seems a very 
strange dispensation of providence that such a trial 
should be permitted to come upon such a man, and 
especially at such a time. But God knows best what 
his trusting followers need ; and no careful student of 
the life of St. Paul can fail to note that after that 
two years of calm meditation, and uninterrupted 
prayer, and patient submission to the Master's will, 
the apostle evidenced a deeper experience, a more 
thorough knowledge of and confidence in the Gospel, 
and a more marked fitness for this peculiar work 
than ever before. Any careful reader of the immor- 
tal "Pilgrim's Progress " must, I think, admit that 
had not John Bunyan been arrested and taken away 
from his peculiarly active and zealous life as an itin- 
erant preacher, and subjected to the peculiar develop- 
ment and influences of the years spent as a prisoner 
in Bedford Jail, the w T orld would never have been 
blessed with that w T onderful book w T hich, next to the 
Bible, has been the most valuable of all books as a 
means of comfort and instruction to God's people. 

The Word of God and the history of the Church, 
unite in testimony to this fact, that if w T e aspire to 



TEMPTATION. 93 

great excellence, either in our character or our 
work, we must, with firm faith and ready submission, 
accept God's plan. The great spiritual foe of our 
race is Satan — the enemy of all righteousness; with 
him we are constantly compelled to measure strength. 
He is a crafty antagonist. Every Christian has felt 
his power, and once he even dared to meet, in open 
encounter, the Prince of Peace himself. Christ con- 
quered him; and that victory is our assurance that, 
" through Christ strengthening us," we also may pre- 
vail — always prevail — against the fiend. Satan has 
many allies: evil spirits, wicked men, the weakness 
of the flesh, superstition, bigotry and the thousand 
and one circumstances and events in life which he 
so adroitly turns to his own dark account. He as- 
sumes such varied forms. Now, he " goeth about 
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;" 
and again, he is " transformed into an angel of light," 
and destroys by the very purity of his seeming. 
With a far-reaching skill he plans and executes his 
attacks. He knows every man's weak side, and he 
never fails to concentrate against it all the force which 
God will permit. "As Philip of JVIacedon was riding 
into battle, at the head of his troops, entirely encased 
in armor, an arrow from an enemy's bow struck him 
in the eye. As he pulled it out, the attendants saw 
inscribed on the shaft, these words : ' For Philip's 
Eye.'" 

So, if there is an open point in our armor, the 
adversary sees it, aims at it, and is sure to hit it. 



94 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

Your vulnerable point may be selfishness or pride of 
life, or ambition or a passionate temper, or penurious- 
ness or slothfulness, or an unreasoning zeal — no mat- 
ter what it may be, Satan spies it before you do 
yourself, and brings all his skill to bear upon it. His 
temptations always go easily and smoothly with our 
inclinations. But with all Satan's skill and power, 
we are not necessarily at his mercy. Thank God, he 
can be met and overcome. St. Peter says: " Be 
sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary, the devil, 
as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may 
devour; whom resist, steadfast in the faith." 

Resistance, in the name of Christ, will secure for 
us the mastery. Satan can tempt, but can not de- 
stroy a steadfast soul. He can never gain possession 
of us except by a voluntary surrender on our own 
part. His strongest fetters will be like the green 
withes about the limbs of Samson, so long as we main- 
tain our integrity. If we hold on to Christ it will 
always be a question of his almightiness set over 
against Satan's strength; and who can doubt the 
result ? 

Temptation is one of the legitimate results of con- 
version. So long as we patiently grind in the devil's 
mill, he leaves us in comparative quiet; but as soon 
as we, by God's grace, break his bonds and fly toAvard 
Christ and heaven, Satan, fearful of losing his thralls, 
pursues us with all his outlawed band, even to the very 
borders of the eternal w T orld. 

Lest my young reader should think, when he is 



TEMPTATION. 95 

tempted, that some strange thing has befallen him, 
let me quote from a reliable source the following fact : 
"It is recorded of John Knox, that greatest of Scotch- 
men, the man who had struggled through untold op- 
position that he might re-establish the true Church, 
that his hardest battle with the tempter w 7 as fought 
upon his sick-bed just the night before he died. 
Satan first attempted to fill his mind with doubts; 
failing in this, he tried to persuade him that for his 
own sake, because of the great w T ork that he had 
wrought as a reformer, and because of his rare merit 
as a defender of the truth, God w T ould save him in 
his extremity, and grant him a crown at last ; thus 
attempting to drive the old hero from his Protestant 
stronghold of salvation by faith to that miserable Ro- 
mish refuge of lies, salvation by works. It was a 
terrible struggle ; but then, as always, the believing 
saint w 7 as conqueror. Exhausted, yet victorious, he 
prevailed through his obstinate faith in the Scripture : 
' God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever belie veth in him should not per- 
ish, but have everlasting life.' " 

In God's plan for our development temptation 
seems to be necessary. When we see a strong man 
in the Church we find that he has not gained his high 
position by a sudden bound. He has not even attained 
it by the careful elaboration of a mere religious theory. 
It is the result of years of prayer, careful study of the 
Word, and practical conflict with opposing influences 
in the painstaking discharge of duty. Conquering 



% AT THE THRESHOLD. 

difficulties makes men strong physically, intellectually, 
and, especially, morally. Temptation is necessary to 
prove the genuineness of a man's Christian character, 
the integrity of his purpose, so that God and the 
Church, and the world and even the man himself 
may know that he is invulnerable. 

It is said that Napoleon I ordered a shirt of mail, 
which was to be bullet-proof. "When the artisan 
completed it he delivered it to the emperor, who or- 
dered him to put it upon himself. Then Napoleon, 
taking a pistol, fired shot after shot at the man in 
armor. It stood this severe test; and the emperor 
bestowed upon the maker a large reward." Precisely 
so with the Christian's armor spoken of by St. Paul 
in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. It must appear 
by actual and sometimes fearful trial that the Chris- 
tian soldier has on this complete armor, that it is 
properly arranged, an 1 that it is bullet-proof. In 
view of the great tests of the future, we can not afford 
to be in any doubt upon this subject. 

Young Christian, never forget that if you are hon- 
est in every fight with the tempter, God is on your 
side. His promises are many, and they are sure. 
Says an instructive writer: "You will find by refer- 
ence to ancient customs that the Tyrians used to bind 
their idol gods with golden chains, lest in time of 
danger they should desert their worshipers and betray 
their trust. But our God has freely bound himself 
with the chain of his promises, that he will never 
leave us nor forsake us." 



TEMPTATION. 97 

We will take time here to look at but two links in 
the chain. God tells us in his Word that : ' 5 There 
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common 
to man ; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you 
to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with 
the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye 
may be able to bear it." A writer in " Man and the 
Gospel," gives the following illustrative comment upon 
this promise: "'The Chronicles of Froissart' relate 
the strange issue of a siege which took place in the 
days of chivalry — and somewhere, I think, in France. 
Though gallantly defended, the outworks of the cita- 
del had been carried. The breach was practicable ; 
to-morrow was fixed for the assault. That none might 
escape under the cloud of night, the besiegers guarded 
every sally-port, and, indeed, the whole sw T eep of 
wall. They had the garrison in a net, and only waited 
for the morrow to secure or slaughter them. The 
night wore heavily on; no sortie was attempted, do 
sound came from the beleagured citadel; its brave 
but ill-starred defenders seemed to wait their doom in 
silence. The morning came; with its dawn the 
stormers rushed at the breach; sword in hand they 
poured in to find the nest empty, cold. The bird was 
flown ; the prey escaped. But how ? That was a 
mystery; it seemed a miracle, until an opening was 
discovered, that led by a flight of steps down into the 
bowels of the rock. They descended, and explored 
their way with cautious steps and lighted torches, 
until this subterranean passage led them out a long 
7 



98 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

way off from the citadel, among quiet, green fields 
and the light of day. It was plain that by this pas- 
sage, the doors of which stood open, their prey had 
escaped under cover of night. A clever device, a 
wise precaution. It was a refuge of the besieged, 
provided against such a crisis. And when affairs seem 
desperate, and the worst comes to the worst, how 
should it encourage God's people to remember that he 
has promised them as safe a retreat." 

Then here is a second promise, equally precious: 
" For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake 
thee." The Greek of this passage has five negatives, 
and may more literally and forcibly be translated thus : 
"■I will not, I will not leave thee ; I will never, never, 
never forsake thee." The precious promise is renewed 
five times, that it may be indelibly impressed upon 
our hearts and bring us peace in the most trying hour. 
It is no sin to be tempted, and no sign of weakness 
or want of acceptance with God. But in giving way 
to temptation, when we have this cloud of gracious 
promises, in that is the sin. The best means of re- 
sistance to temptation are prayer and watchfulness ; 
prayer, because that links almightiness and omnis- 
cience to our weakness and ignorance ; watchfulness, 
because Satan and his trained engineers undermine as 
often as they assault. 

Let me also recommend to you two precautionary 
means of resistance : First, always fight Satan with 
your own weapons. Christ met and vanquished the 
tempter with the " sword of the Spirit, which is the 



TEMPTATION. 99 

Word of God;" and this sword is the sure reliance 
of every Christian soldier. It belongs of right to yon. 
Grasp it then with a firm hand. Do n't doubt it. It 
will never fail you. Its temper is perfect. It has been 
fully tested; and "no weapon formed against it shall 
prosper." In one of Scott's rare poems a duel is de- 
scribed between a Scotch Highlander and a Lowland 
knight. The Highlander had always been accustomed 
to fight with a broadsword and shield ; but in courtesy 
to his antagonist, who had only a light sword, he 
threw his shield upon the ground. The fight went on, 
but the Highlander was at a serious disadvantage, 
and, although the stronger of the two, was soon 
stretched helplessly upon the plain. Thus will it al- 
ways be with the Christian, if he consent, from court- 
esy or any other reason, to dispense with any portion 
of his spiritual armor which he is accustomed to use. 
He will certainly be worsted in the fight. But if, 
in spite of the promptings of a false courtesy, if, 
in spite of the allurements or threats of the adversary, 
the soldier of Christ keeps on the whole armor, and 
wields every weapon with which he is provided, he 
will come off "more than conqueror." 

Second, always fight Satan upon your own ground. 
The attacking party always labors under a disadvan- 
tage; and a nation can maintain a longer and surer 
war in its own territory than when it engages upon the 
soil of its enemy. So with the Christian in this great 
fight; standing upon Gospel soil, entrenched behind 
God's promises, and thus putting himself on the de- 



100 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

fensive, he is absolutely unconquerable. But if, under 
the influence of a false spirit of liberality, he allows 
himself to drift into such places and such company 
as are plainly forbidden by God's Word, then Satan, 
catching him away from home, will have him at a dis- 
advantage, and easily bind him hand and foot. God's 
people are a peculiar people. They have a home of 
their own, a work of their ow T n, society of their ow T n, 
amusements of their own ; and, while they put forth 
every legitimate effort to win others from the pow T er 
of Satan unto God, let them have decision enough, 
sense enough, and courage enough to stay at home 
and mind their own business. 

" Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for 
when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, 
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." 



THE CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 101 



Cl^ptef XIII. 

THE CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

npHE Christian ministry is not a mere profession, 
-*- to be selected from personal considerations; it is 
a divine calling, into which no man should dare to 
enter without the divine sanction. Much as the 
Christian Church needs well-trained ministers, let it 
be understood that she depends upon God to call the 
right men at the right time. The young man who 
adopts the ministry as other men adopt the law, the 
army, or the navy, and goes through the routine of 
its duties with the coldness of a mere official, will 
never comprehend its true mission, and will never at- 
tain to real success in it. Whatever his intellectual 
attainments, he can not feed the flock of Christ. In- 
creasing numbers may gather about him, but they 
will be connected to the preacher rather than to 
Christ. There may be intellectual food and growth, 
but there will be little, if any, spiritual power. 

Cowdray has said with equal keenness and quaint- 
ness: "Like as if a stranger should violently thrust 
himself in to be the shepherd of thy sheep, thou 
wouldst ask him who sent for him, what he had to 
do there ; and thou wouldst rather think him to be a 
thief, and a murderer of thy sheep, than to be a faith- 
ful and trusty servant. So, surely if thou come to 



102 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

take charge of God's people before he inwardly move 
thy conscience to pity his people, and outwardly, by 
order, call and place thee where he thinks good, he 
will judge thee a thief, a wolf, a devourer, and not a 
feeder." 

I know that some men, already in the pulpit, sneer 
at this doctrine, and insist that any man who thinks 
he would like the work of the pulpit, and be successful 
in it as a profession, and who possesses a fair amount 
of mental culture, with a tolerable degree of piety, is 
as much called to this position as are others, and is 
free to choose it or let it alone, as he may elect. But 
such ministers, in the meager results of their own 
lives, will usually remind us of the clergyman, who 
contending against this fundamental doctrine, said, 
" I took up preaching, because, every thing considered, 
I regarded it as the most desirable of all the learned 
professions ; I never believed myself called to preach." 
Whereupon an acquaintance replied, "No oilier person 
ever believed it, either." 

Let me say to any young man whose. attention has 
been turned toward the ministry, Be cautious — pray- 
erfully, thoughtfully cautious. If it is plainly your 
duty, it will be fully made known to you. You need 
not live in uncertainty ; neither need you ' l run before 
you are sent." But, if God has really called you, 
and opens the way before you, be more cautious, 
even, how you refuse. 

"But," you say, "how am I to know that I am 
called to this great work ?" I answer, by several con- 



THE CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 103 

curring proofs. If, while you are prayerfully holding 
yourself in the path of duty, and are ready to step 
into every open door of usefulness, you become con- 
scious of an abiding conviction — not a mere impres- 
sion, but settled sense of obligation — that God has called 
you to this work, you may regard this as the first 
link in the chain of evidence. You must then wait 
for the voice of the Church. But if, after patiently 
waiting for a reasonable length of time without receiv- 
ing the summons of the Church, you still possess the 
same sense of duty, you may then, with perfect pro- 
priety, reveal your feelings to the brethren ; provided 
you have, in the mean time, been steadfast in the 
work of the Church, so that the society is familiar 
with you and your capabilities. Although the breth- 
ren may never have thought of you as a candidate for 
the ministry, still it is possible that when your con- 
victions are opened to them, they may, after due re- 
flection, fully concur in your opinion ; for it may be 
God's order through you to first bring this matter to 
their notice. 

If you are looking toward the ministry of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, I may with propriety 
call your attention to the fact that, by explicit direc- 
tion of the Book of Discipline, the brethren are to 
judge of the genuineness of your call by the following 
questions : 

" Does he know God as a pardoning God? Has he 
the love of God abiding in him? Does he desire 
nothing but God? Is he holy in all manner of con- 



104 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

versation? Has lie gifts — as well as grace — for the 
work? Has lie a clear, sound understanding; a right 
judgment in the things of God; a just conception of 
salvation by faith? Has God given him a good de- 
gree of utterance? Does he speak justly, readily, 
clearly? Has he fruit? Are any truly convinced of 
sin, and converted to God by his efforts? As long as 
these marks concur in any one, we believe he is called 
of God to preach. These we receive as sufficient 
proof that he is moved by the Holy Spirit." 

Here, then, you have a sufficient answer to your 
question, "How am I to know that I am called of 
God?" If these proofs combine to demonstrate your 
duty to God and the Church, there is no room for 
prejudice or self-interest. It is of no avail to plead 
your inability or sense of weakness. You must preach 
the Gospel; relying upon the promise, " Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end." 

If God calls you to preach, he first calls you, in 
these days of schools and colleges, thoroughly to edu- 
cate yourself with direct reference to this important 
office; taking care, all the time, that your heart is 
kept right, and that your spiritual development does 
not lag. "But," you say, "I have not the means, 
or the opportunity for a liberal education." I answer : 
Begin the work and God will supplement your zeal and 
your industry by opening the way just as far as he 
desires you to go in this direction. In such case he 
will most graciously fill you with a sweet conscious- 
ness of his presence and favor; supporting you in 



THE CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 105 

every trial, and inspiring you with the true apostolic 
courage and constancy. 

" Between Christianity and true culture there have 
always been, not antagonisms, but strongest sympa- 
thies and alliances. Point to a period in history when 
the Church has been imbued with the spirit of vital 
Christianity, and it will be found that there, especially, 
consecrated culture in the pulpit w T as molding thought 
and elevating piety in the pews. Progressive move- 
ments of high religious character have had their be- 
ginning, not in the pew, as a rule, but in the pulpit; 
and polished instrumentalities have been usually the 
divine selections. It is the greatest error to suppose 
that the interests of truth are better subserved by 
ignorance than by culture, or that consecrated disci- 
pline has not been a favorite of providence in the 
promulgation of truth. The ancient cities of the 
Levites were seats of learning. The schools of the 
prophets w 7 ere not, in scholastic respects, unlike the 
academies of the Greek philosophers. The disciples 
of our Lord possessed rare educational advantages. 
Indeed, their professional training was extensive and 
extraordinary. They had for three years the personal 
instructions and models of the world's Teacher. Their 
Instructor w r as most thoroughly intellectual. How he 
stimulated thought, awakened curiosity, and startled 
men to inquire, 'How can these things be?' He ever 
excited men to grapple with his words, and at length 
to say, ' Declare unto us this parable.' Men did not 
sit at their ease wmen he preached. They worked on 



106 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

his great ideas. They tasked themselves to grasp his 
meaning, and revolve what he had thrown before 
them. 'He stood above his hearers, lie dropped 
seeds down into their minds. These minds acted on 
the seed in darkness for a time, but still acted; and, 

when the time was fulfilled, the seed swelled out and 

grew up, and bore fruit; and after he was glorified, 
his disciples remembered his words and wondered at 
their germinating power.' To such preaching for 

years did the apostles listen. What candidate 
for the ministry in our day has before him for that 
length of time, nay, for any time, such a mod< 

Perhaps you say, k ' I am involved in business plans 
and projects,* or, u I am entering upon the study 
and practice of a | a; and while 1 acknowledge 

that under other circumstances it would probably be 
my duty t i engage in this work, i I am certainly 
Qow my <»wn inclinations. n No, you are not 
free. Duty is duty, and you can in no case evade it 
and maintain your acceptance with God. Unless your 
exceptional one, you must at 
once abandon all inferior pursuits, that you may ac- 
cept this holy trust 

All your business experience and all your technical 
knowledge in other directions will be of value to you 
here, for you are entering upon a study to which all 
knowledge is tributary, and a work which, in its re- 
sults, has to do with v\evy occupation in which men 



'The Sword and Garment," p. 50. 



THE CALL TO THE CHBISTIAN MINISTRY. 107 

engage. Peter and Andrew were engaged in the iin- 
portaot work of fishing, and in this business no doubt 
they had invested all their capital ; but at the com- 
mand of Jesus, with unquestioning obedience, they left 
their nets and followed him, that he might make them 
fishers of men. Matthew was collector of customs at 
one of the most important ports of entry in the prov- 
ince of Galilee; and jet when Jesus said, "Follow 
me," he entered into no arguments, made no plea of 
important bus te that could not be 

ueglected, but with a sublimely simple trust in the 
divine wisdom, kt he arose and followed him." And 
shall yon be less prompt and Belf-sacrificing in obeying 
the blaster's call? 

Every Christian young man should hold himself 
in readiness to do bis best in whatever field th< M 
may place him. ling men who apply tl 

Belves to the common work of the Church, looking 
after the into the pray r and class-meeti 

visiting the poor and Bick, offeri willing heart and 

hand to the Sunday-sob unconverted 

into the congregation on the Lord's day. putting forth 
every possible effort for the salvation of souls, all the 
time praying and studying that they may ineiva- 
capacity and power, are dear to the pastor's heart and 
are far wiser than those who attempt at one mighty 
stride to mount from the pew to the pulpit. Such 
young men need spend no time in struggling with 
doubts as to duty, or anxious queries in regard to 
their proper course in life. Keeping to the work 



108 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

nearest at hand, it is possible they may fill up their 
measure of obligation in the ranks of the laity, where 
they are so much needed. But if God has work 
higher and more important for them to do, they are 
just the ones to take up that work at a proper time, 
and push it on to success. The Church wants no men 
in the pulpit who are not as willing to employ their 
talents in any other department of Church service. 

Once in the ministry, let me exhort you to show 
your estimate of the sacredness' of your holy calling 
by being most persistently a man of one work. Do 
not be found "with a Discipline in one pocket and a 
commission as agent for a life insurance company in 
the other;" for it is far better to leave the ministerial 
ranks altogether, than to bring contempt upon the 
office by combining its functions with business plans 
and purposes. Any thing but a Rev. Sewing-ma- 
chine Agent, or speculator in horses, or stocks or 
houses, or lands. Let the man whom God has called 
be either a faithful pastor or a diligent business man; 
he can not possibly be both. 

The minister w T ho, in poverty or in plenty, lives a life 
of strict devotion to his work, who manifests a Christ- 
like zeal for the salvation of men, and who makes it 
evident to all that he is impelled by a noble and ex- 
alted piety, will inspire our young men with a holy 
emulation. Their generous impulses and youthful ar- 
dor for Christ, under such a stimulus, will lift them 
above the world, and make them free to toil and self- 
abnegation for Christ's sake and the Gospel's. 



THE CALL TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 109 

This subject lias claims upon the attention of the 
unconverted young men of our congregation ; young men 
who have all the other qualifications, yet regard 
themselves as excused from the Christian ministry 
because they are not now pious. They say, "We 
admit that this work is of the very first importance. 
It is indispensable to the progress of civilization. It 
will be foremost among the agencies that shall har- 
monize the incongruous elements of our American 
society. It is accomplishing for pagan lands what no 
other influence can. It will be our main defense 
against the encroachments of Jesuitism. It furnishes 
an inspiration and an object for science, art, and 
commerce. It gives value to property, and security 
to life. The world can not do without it. It must 
be upheld, and its influence extended. But we must 
be excused from all personal responsibility in this 
matter, because w T e are not professedly religious. We 
can get along in the law, or the medical profession, 
or in business, without piety, but we are unfitted for 
this work ; so we consider ourselves fairly excused." 

Young man, who has excused you? Did God, 
when he so richly endowed you with mental and 
moral talents, and gave you so many opportunities to 
improve upon them? Does not your avowed convic- 
tion, as to the mission of Christianity in the world, 
commit you to a responsibility in this work? The 
very necessities of the ministry are your call to peni- 
tence and faith. In my own early experience, the 
conviction that I was called to, and in some respect, 



110 AT THE THBESHOLD. 

at least, endowed for, the ministry, and that the Church 
needed devoted laborers, was prominent among the 
influences that brought me to Christ and the cross. 

Where, in God's Word, do you find the slightest 
warrant for ignoring all personal obligation to the 
Church, simply because you are an impenitent sinner? 
No, no, you can not reason thus; "this ought ye to 
have done, and not to have left the other undone." 
Receiving the" light of the Gospel; blessed with the 
instructions of a Christian home ; surrounded by the 
blessed results of Christian labor, your lack of per- 
sonal piety only increases your condemnation. The 
divine monitor in your breast is an "accusing" rather 
than aD " excusing" conscience. Let me entreat you to 
remember, in the flush and strength of your early 
manhood, that the purity and piety of old age can 
not compensate the mistakes of early life. 

It is said that " Dr. Nathan Bangs was once 
asked by an aged layman who had refused, in early 
life, to obey his conscience summoning him into the 
ministry: ' Is it possible for a man, after having 
through a long life remained out of the office to which 
God w T as calling him, is it possible for such a man to 
get into heaven?' Dr. Bangs bowed his head and re- 
mained in deep thought, until he broke the silence 
with this answer : ' Brother, there may be a possi- 
bility of his getting into heaven ; but another will take 
his crown.'" 

God forbid, young man, that another should take 
your crown. 



BEADING. Ill 



dlfaptef XIV. 

FICTION— RULES FOR READING— THE RELIGIOUS 
NEWSPAPER. 

'"T is not for man to trifle ! Life is "brief, 

And sin is here. 
Our age is but the falling of a leaf, 

A dropping tear. 
We have no time to sport away the hours, 
All must be earnest in a world like ours." 

THIS is pre-eminently an age of book-making and 
book-reading. This fact, although a hopeful one 
in itself, is a source of anxiety to thoughtful men who 
observe the kind of books made and read. Works of 
fiction, from the best to the poorest, are having an 
unprecedented sale ; and upon the shelves of the book- 
store and the library they are literally crowding out 
better books. The newspaper has become a great 
power in the land, and constitutes the sole reading of 
a large class of people. To meet the popular demand, 
illustrated newspapers have been multiplied, sprinkled 
here and there with scraps of news, dashes of scien- 
tific facts, and patches of moral sentiment, but mainly 
devoted to the lowest grade of romance, disgusting to 
other than an inexperienced or morbid taste. A per- 
fect army of writers is employed to furnish tales, 
novels, and novelettes for this circulation. 



112 AT THE THEESHOLD. 

Many religious newspapers have so far yielded to 
the popular demand as to furnish second-class serial 
stories. Even our Church libraries have caught the 
infection, and the average Sunday-school book has 
come to be a weak solution of story and sermon, alike 
dissipating to the mind of the scholar and subversive 
of the real design of the school. Our Sunday-school 
libraries are fairly flooded with this weak, "goodish" 
literature until hardly a vestige of more solid read- 
ing survives. Especially is this true where the care- 
fully edited Sunday-school books of our denominational 
publishing-house are entirely ignored by committees, 
and the supply is furnished by irresponsible houses. 

Indiscriminate novel-reading tends to destroy the taste 
for other and more substantial reading. Familiarity with 
popular fiction gives a disrelish for simple truth, and 
engenders the pernicious habit of reading merely for 
amusement This destroys the love of sober investiga- 
tion; it renders science, history, biography, critical 
essays, and books of travel tedious and unattractive; 
it dwarfs the memory and reasoning powers, and 
makes the imagination morbid and unhealthy by con- 
stant excitement. 

Let a young man or woman accustom the mind to 
this unnatural excitement, and it will soon be evident 
that when it is not under the influence of that stimu- 
lant by reaction, it sinks to such an insensible state 
that solid reading can not arouse it to interest. The 
mind is very like the body in this respect. Let a man 
accustom himself to the use of stimulants (such as 



READING. 113 

wine, brandy, or tobacco), and soon he will be utterly 
unable to arouse himself to great exertions and to call 
out all the energies of his nature without the aid of 
such stimulants. On the contrary, if he accustoms 
himself to a strong, healthy diet, without unnatural 
stimulants, he can, at any time, command his entire 
energies, bringing them to bear upon the accomplish- 
ment of his object. 

So, the mind of the habitual novel-reader is de- 
bauched by the wine, the brandy, and the tobacco 
of literature ; and it will take no interest in a book 
that does not contain these elements ; it can not be 
aroused to activity in any other way. I have the 
proof of this in the experience of every confirmed 
novel-reader. 

A Christian lady, who, unfortunately, formed the 
habit of novel-reading at an early age, says : " I could 
make any earthly sacrifice could I thirst after the 
Bible and other instructive books, as I have after 
novels. The greatest daily cross I am called to take 
up is to pass by a novel without reading it. I 
would say, as a warning to all my sex, beware of 
this fatal rock; beware of wasting not only days, 
but nights, to make yourselves fools all the rest of 
your life." 

I am often asked : What rules should be adopted, by 
a young person, in reading the better class of fiction ? 

Dr. Curry says: " While we are free to declare our 
conviction that for the most part fictitious literature 
is miserably poor provender for the mind, we can also at- 



114 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

test the real value of some novels that we have read." 
None of us, probably, are prepared to say that under 
no circumstances should a work of the better kind of 
fiction be read. It may sometimes be a recreation, 
and the delineations of manners and customs in ro- 
mance are often helps to details in history. Many 
works of fiction may be read with safety, some even 
with profit. But the very greatest care is necessary, 
in reading even the best of novels, lest too great 
familiarity with such literature should relax the mind, 
pervert its powers, and disqualify the heart for the 
active virtues of life. 

In attempting to give advice upon this point, I am 
fully aware of the difficulties in the way, not the 
least of which is the disposition of the young to take 
advantage of a reasonable license in certain things, 
and decidedly overdo the matter. But I am im- 
pressed with the fact that an indiscriminate condem- 
nation of novel-reading is not wise; such a rule is 
too extreme. This course will cut off the ears of 
our young people, so that they will not listen to what 
we have to say upon this subject. I am also im- 
pressed with the importance of careful advice to the 
young, by way of instructing their inexperience, and 
leading them to a wise course, as regards light litera- 
ture; and the end to be secured, is, at least, worthy 
the prayerful, thoughtful attempt. 

In offering some advice upon this subject, let me 
say : Read works of fiction only as a recreation and re- 
laxation from severe mental labor. If you have but 



READING. 115 

little time for reading and study, spend none of it in 
this way. The time is short. " There was an ancient 
custom of putting an hour-glass into the coffin of the 
dead, to signify that their time had run out. A use- 
less notification to them. Better put the hour-glass 
into the hand of every living man, and show him the 
grains gliding steadily out. Soon all w T ill be gone." 
But by rescuing a little from the regular occupation 
of the day, the mind may be disciplined, and stored 
with useful knowledge. Professor Tyndall, whose 
fame as a scientist now extends over the world, gained 
the preparation for his brilliant career by the faithful 
use of five hours a day, which he secured in the 
early morning, before he began his arduous labors as 
a surveyor. The constant study of a professional man 
or woman may be relieved, now and then, with a 
little carefully selected light reading; but to devote 
all one's leisure time to such literature will leave the 
mind impoverished and unhealthy. 

I can not but place a very high estimate upon 
some works of the imagination, such as Shakespeare's, 
Irving's, Hawthorne's, Miss Mulock's, and a part of 
Mrs. Stowe's, and I certainly think they can be read 
with profit; but to read only such books would be 
the next thing to starving the mind. The physical 
man can not live and be healthy, and grow strong on 
the pulpy, juicy fruits alone, however pleasant and 
desirable they may be as an occcasional dessert. He 
must have strong meat. So, let me say to the young 
man or woman, whose principal time is taken up by 



116 AT THE THEESHOKD. 

necessary physical employment, use the little leisure 
you have in making yourself familiar with instructive 
books, such as history, biography, travels, and science. 
Make the most of your spare hours; and you may 
yet be able to exhibit a mental training and culture, 
which shall shame the listless dreamer whose oppor- 
tunities you may now be tempted to covet. You, 
certainly, have very little, if any, time to spend on 
works of fiction. Only now and then an hour, at 
most, can be profitably employed in this way. 

Read only classics — those works of fiction that are of 
acknowledged merit, and are legitimate in their concep- 
tion and aim. If you have much time for reading, 
then a part of it may be spent profitably in this way ; 
but do not fail to make the most careful selection. 

Coleridge divides readers into four classes. " The 
first," he says, "may be compared to an hour-glass, 
their reading being as the sand; it runs in, and runs 
out, and leaves not a vestige behind. A second class 
resembles a sponge, which imbibes every thing, and 
returns it in nearly the same state, only a little 
dirtier. A third class is like a jelly bag, which allows 
all that is pure to pass away, and retains only the 
refuse and the dregs. The fourth class may be com- 
pared to the slave in the diamond mines of Golconda, 
who, casting aside all that is worthless, preserves only 
the pure gem." 

If you are inclined to make the most of yourself 
and your opportunities, you are very careful in choos- 
ing your friends, and admit but few to an intimate 



HEADING. 117 

association. Be equally select and sparing in your 
choice of books, and especially this class of books. 
Your sphere may be humble and limited, and yet, 
by care upon this point, you may be regularly asso- 
ciated with the best minds; and not only secure the 
incalculable benefit of their knowledge and culture, 
but be animated by their high and noble purposes. 
You are just as welcome to the best literary company 
as to the poorest ; you can choose between princes 
and paupers. And, as your own mind will inevitably 
take its tone from the authors' with whom you asso- 
ciate, your responsibility can not be lightly esti- 
mated. Books should never be read for amusement 
merely ; they should be read for a definite purpose. 
Hence it is wise for you to read but few books, such 
as can be well digested, and, by careful thought, 
made your own. 

Much of the popular religious reading of the day 
will have to be classed among novels, and many noble 
names are identified with this branch of literature. 
Still we can give to the religious novel but a qualified 
approval. You will have need of wisdom in selecting 
even here. If, however, you select a few of the 
choicest, you can peruse them with mental and spir- 
itual profit. j 

There are a few works of fiction, secular as well as 
religious, that are pure and good, true to nature and 
society, and yet written in the interests of good morals. 
These, read at proper times, will elevate and instruct 
as well as entertain. Seek the aid and advice of some 



118 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

person of good judgment and experience, in making such 
selection. Do not depend upon publisher's puffs, or 
irresponsible book notices; but be as jealous in this 
matter as a banker would be in watching for bad 
money. If you have no reliable source of informa- 
tion, upon this subject, you had better let such works 
alone altogether, and spend your time upon that 
which you know to be safe. It would be far better 
for you to turn famishing away from a bountiful feast, 
rather than risk eating the one poisonous dish that 
has been skillfully placed with the many that are 
wholesome. You can not possibly be too strict upon 
this point, for your mental and moral health depend 
upon your incorruptible vigilance. 

Read only such fiction as you feel is worth reading 
for its own sake. As you read on, in the book you 
have chosen, if you do not feel that, at some future 
time, you could read it over again with pleasure and 
profit, then throw it aside at once. You can be better 
employed. A novel to be worth reading — to have 
any real intellectual food in it — must be natural in 
its conception ; its aim must be definite, and its charac- 
ters must be sharply drawn. It must have an unde- 
niable claim upon our consideration as a work of art. 
If this is the case with the book in hand, you will feel 
that it is well worth reading again, and your interest 
will increase with the second perusal. Let a young 
person follow up this rule, reading only such books, 
and his or her taste will soon become so refined that 
trash will be detected with ease. Such a one will 



READING. 119 

shrink from a bad book as instinctively as a sensitive 
plant shrinks from a rude touch. 

When you find that your limited reading of fiction 
interferes, in the least, with your mental or moral 
duties, then let it alone altogether. With some, even a 
little such reading will be productive of these results. 
In such cases total abstinence is the only safe rule. 
But in all cases where fiction lessens your desire for 
more substantial reading and study, or where it con- 
flicts with your religious activities, the little good to 
be derived can not compensate the evil. This is true 
even of the so-called religious fiction, and, with all its 
excellences, it must not be allowed to draw the atten- 
tion or interest away from Bible study, secret prayer, 
religious duty, or the study of solid w^orks in the vari- 
ous departments of literature. 

Many young Christians have suffered themselves to 
drift into the habit of immoderate reading of the best 
and the purest fiction, until, before they were quite 
aware of it, books of religious instruction, glowing 
with celestial fire, have lost their interest, and a life 
of religious devotion has ceased to be attractive, or 
even desirable. Hundreds of apostates from God and 
the Church can point to excessive novel-reading 
(which they failed to check even when the danger 
was made plain to them) as the rock upon which 
they made shipwreck of their faith. Many others, 
who have, at times, been almost persuaded to be 
Christians — who have been just on the point of yield- 
ing to the Spirit, and beginning a life of real success, 



120 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

have quieted their consciences and stifled their convic- 
tions, by plunging deeper and deeper into this mental 
dissipation — until they have lost all thought of a per- 
sonal consecration to God. In this, Satan furnishes 
a ready means of grieving away the Holy Spirit. 

When you find that you can not readily, and with 
interest turn from the novel you are reading to a 
more substantial intellectual repast, or when you find 
that your taste for works of imagination leads you 
to demand a fanciful style even in books of history, 
biography, or science— in short, when your mind needs 
to be amused and cheated into the reception of valu- 
able knowledge, then the sooner you drop fiction alto- 
gether, the better. At any rate, abandon it until 
your mental powers have regained their normal tone. 

I know that these rules will be regarded by some 
as very strict; but strictness is a necessity. Better to 
err upon this side, than upon the side of looseness. 
The enormity of. the evil to be averted justifies the 
greatest jealousy in our treatment of this subject. 

My young friends — especially those who have be- 
come addicted to this pernicious habit — let me urge 
you to think earnestly upon this subject. It concerns 
you intellectually and morally. It concerns your suc- 
cess in life, and your safety in eternity. Beware, be- 
ware of this evil. It will poison your mind, it will 
ruin your soul. God purposes better things for you. 
The Church and the world want cultivated minds as 
well as regenerate hearts ; and with all your opportu- 
nities you have no time to spend on trifles, or in doing 



READING. 121 

that which will have to be undone. All about you 
are the materials for a perfect intellectual temple. 
May you be so divinely directed in your choice that 
every stone you place in the walls may be worthy and 
enduring; while the whole shall constitute a fitting 
support for the top-stone, which shall be perfect love 
to God and men. 

THE RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPER. 

As an indispensable help to intellectual and spirit- 
ual culture, the young Christian should have regular 
access to at least one Church pajoer. An independent re- 
ligious paper, or one of some other denomination, will 
be of value, and may be profitably read, if time and 
means will allow ; but first of all let him take, and 
read with care, the official organ of the denomination 
with which he is connected. No other periodical 
should be permitted to take its place; no other can 
do him so much good. 

A good Church paper is a great power, and no- 
where else is that power more immediately and satis- 
factorily felt than in the expanding life of an intelli- 
gent young man or woman, consecrated to the service 
of Christ. The w^ell conducted religious paper is a 
good commentary on the Bible, furnishing direct ex- 
position, interesting religious biography, which illus- 
trates in the freshest possible manner practical relig- 
ious truth, as well as all kinds of facts showing the 
present power of the Gospel and success of the Church. 
It contains in every issue something to arouse the in- 



122 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

different to action, direct the inquirer, cheer the 
afflicted, instruct the faithful worker in the best 
methods, strengthen the burdened, give courage to 
the tempted and tried, and especially to inspire the 
inexperienced with a zeal which shall be according to 
knowledge. 

The young Christian needs to be always ready to 
assault error in its most dangerous forms, as well as to 
defend the citadel of truth where it is most likely 
to be attacked ; he needs the stimulation of fresh 
ideas, and an extended view of the great field of 
Christian activities; he needs to be thoroughly in- 
formed in regard to the methods and operations of 
his own denomination ; he needs to be familiar with 
its missionary movements, and all the various organi- 
zations for promoting its growth and increasing its 
influence for good, and this not only because of the 
effort he will thus be prompted to put forth, but be- 
cause of the healthful influence upon his own spiritual 
life of the love and sympathy and self-abnegation 
which will thus be aroused within him; he needs to 
have his mind and heart liberalized by a knowledge 
of what is being done by other congregations, and by 
other denominations, and he constantly needs to be 
stirred up to better work by a knowledge of their 
efficiency and success ; he needs to know many things 
in regard to what is expected of a progressive Church- 
member, and which his pastor can not, or will not, 
for obvious reasons mention to him. 

Now all this will be regularly and judiciously sup- 



BEADING. 123 

plied by the weekly Church paper, which not only 
brings the best thoughts of its experienced editors, 
but commands the services of the most competent 
contributors in the literary and scientific, as well as 
strictly religious, departments. A Church-member 
who regularly reads the paper of his denomination 
will not only be better informed than the one who 
does not, but he will be more liberal to local as well 
as general Church enterprises; he will be a better 
hearer and w T orshiper in the sanctuary, and will show 
a more rapid growth in all those qualities which go to 
make up a symmetrical and valuable Christian char- 
acter. An experienced pastor expects much of the 
member who reads the Church paper, while frequent 
disappointments have taught him not to rely for either 
appreciative sympathy or efficient help upon the par- 
ishioner who ignores the weekly visitant, and chooses 
instead the political daily or the popular magazine. 
If your pastor is faithful and wise, he will at once 
call your attention to this important help in your re- 
ligious life ; and he will do this quite as much for his 
own sake as for yours, knowing that his work would 
be greatly lightened and his success more certain if 
this " assistant pastor" could be introduced into every 
household. 

Therefore, my young reader, next to your Bible, 
and before all purely secular reading — valuable as 
very much of it is — be sure to subscribe for and 
thoughtfully read your regular Church paper. 



124 AT THE THKESHOKD. 



dilute* XV. 

SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 

[BY REV. O. A. HOUGHTON, A. M.] 

" Follow with reverent steps the great example 
Of Him whose holy work was ' doing good;' 
So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple, 
Each loving life a psalm of gratitude." 

— Whittier. 

T~T is a significant fact that every enterprise of the 
-*- Christian Church is dependent upon a legitimate 
use of money. Far from that one-sided view of re- 
ligion that sets no value on earthly possessions, our 
Lord taught that the Gospel was to be propagated in 
the earth by the monetary offerings of his people 
freely and lovingly rendered. Moreover this benevo- 
lence must be a constant flow to meet a constant de- 
mand. All the great missionary enterprises of the 
Church, home and foreign, are planned and pushed 
forward on a full faith that this benevolence will not 
cease. No Christian Church has a right to exist as 
such that is not missionary in its spirit and activities. 
The life of the Church, like the life of God, is a per- 
petual outflow of beneficence. Our Lord enjoins 
stated and constant offerings of money that the habit 
of benevolence may be cultivated in all his children. 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 125 

There is no other way of salvation from selfishness. 
The heathen need our help, to be sure, but we equally 
need to help them for our own sakes. The reflex benefit 
on our hearts of money offerings to God is the primary 
object of their requirement. If our gifts be not ren- 
dered freely and lovingly as unto God, this effect is 
not realized, and the purpose of the law of benevolence 
is defeated. 

This law also makes God a partner with us in 
business. If the measure of our beneficence be a tenth 
of our income, we shall prove that ninety cents with 
his blessing is worth far more to us than the whole 
dollar without his approval. It is w T ell for us to re- 
member that our property is not the result of our 
shrewdness, prudence, or industry. Others equally 
prudent and diligent are reduced to poverty in an hour 
by calamity or misfortune. The fact is, we do not 
own what we possess. Ownership, or the right to 
use a thing with absolute reference to one's own will, 
is in God alone. We are stewards, not proprietors. 
Property must be used according to the will of the 
Sovereign Proprietor. A selfish use of our possessions 
is robbery of God. Besides, property is valuable only 
when rightly used. To the miser, the spendthrift, the 
sensualist, money is a positive damage. Property is 
of no value to any one who does not use it according 
to God's will. But God permits us to claim all in- 
vestments made according to his will as so much 
treasure laid up in heaven. A man may so use his 
pittance or his abundance according as God has pros- 



126 AT THE THEESHOLD. 

pered him or withheld from him, as that it shall be 
transmuted into heavenly treasure, and so he becomes 
4 'rich toward God." 

Ultimately, therefore, a man will save just what 
he gives away with the pure intent to glorify God. 
To hoard money even with the purpose to will it to 
benevolent objects at death is positive disobedience. 
This is an age of perversion of wills. The only way 
to insure a right disposal of property is for every man 
to be his own executor. He may do this in the prac- 
tice of benevolence according to the law of Christ, 
and thus through life cultivate in himself those dis- 
positions of soul that the practice of benevolence is 
designed specially to produce. 

But what is the measure and method of Christian 
beneficence ? Taking a careful survey of the Old Tes- 
tament law of tithes and offerings, including the 
'} shekels for the sanctuary" and corners of the fields, 
gleanings and spontaneous growth to be left for the 
poor, we find that a conscientious and devout Jew 
could scarcely discharge his obligations with less than 
one-third his entire income. What is the startling in- 
ference? Has Christianity in her practice lowered 
the standard of beneficence? In the centenary year 
the Methodist Episcopal Church consecrated over nine 
millions of dollars to God. Much of this was for local 
purposes, and far from being disinterested benevolence ; 
and yet, granting that it was all pure benevolence, 
it aggregated only one-fourth ivhat it ought to amount to 
every year. When the Church comes to the recogni- 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 127 

tion and practice of the divine law of beneficence she 
will annually quadruple this offering. Much of her 
benevolence is spasmodic rather than systematic. It 
goes by impulse under the inspiration of great occa- 
sions or the power of special pleadings. The special 
need of the hour is system in benevolence. God's 
command is not only to give, but to give regularly 
and with exact reference to our income. The repre- 
sentative passage is 1 Cor. xvi, 1, 2: "Now concern- 
ing the collection for the saints, as I have given order 
to the Churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the 
first day of the w T eek let every one of you lay by him 
in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no 
gatherings when I come." 

No doubt the question, "What proportion of my 
income ought to be consecrated to God?" has already 
risen in the minds of my readers. If I mistake not, 
you will not find a fixed ratio named in the Bible. 
The fact is, God has left it for bve to devise. However, 
it must be "As God hath prospered" us. Circum- 
stances also affect the case. After a careful considera- 
tion of the divine law of beneficence, I conclude that 
people in comfortable circumstances ought, at least, 
to consecrate a tenth. The poor would doubtless 
discharge their full responsibilities with less, w T hile the 
rich should evidently give much more. No Christian 
can conscientiously consume upon himself and family 
more than enough for their comfort, convenience, and 
culture. Let it be observed that, in the estimate 
above made, of the amount required by the Old Tes- 



128 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

tament law, there is included the portion for the ex- 
pensive temple worship and the liberal support of the 
priestly tribe. But the support of the Church to 
which we belong is not a benevolence. It is the pay- 
ment of a just claim, the full equivalent of which is 
received — a claim which it would be indecent and 
dishonest to ignore. Every member of the .Methodist 
Episcopal Church has in the most solemn manner 
vowed to contribute his full share towards its expenses. 
If he does not do this cheerfully and willingly with- 
out waiting to have it squeezed out of him by an 
abused and over-burdened officiary, his vow is broken, 
and on his own soul rests the guilt and condemnation. 
No honorable man will enjoy the full benefits of a 
w T ell furnished church and well sustained service and 
not contribute his full share towards its financial ne- 
cessities. No worship on earth, true or false, is so 
inexpensive as American Protestant Christian worship. 
It should be so in order that the great strength of the 
Church may be put forth in purely disinterested be- 
nevolence. No doubt there are circumstances which 
justify men in turning all their benevolent funds to 
the support of a Church in some given locality, which, 
but for their contributions, would be entirely aban- 
doned. But ordinarily the support of the Church to 
which we belong is not a benevolence. Notice, now r , 
in the above quoted passage of Scripture, the apostle 
had given the same order to " the Churches of Ga- 
latia" that he here gives to the " Church of God 
which is at Corinth," and this epistle is also addressed 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 129 

* ' to all ill every place " ' ' who call upon the name 
of Jesus Christ our Lord." It is to all Christians, 
therefore, a command to systematic beneficence, 
as plain a command as " Thou shalt not steal." It 
is not simply advisory counsel that may be followed 
or not, but an " order," requiring not only benevo- 
lence, but benevolence in a specific, systematic 
manner. 

Doubtless offerings are better made w T eekly where 
circumstances will permit, especially by the great 
masses of the people whose income is small and re- 
ceived weekly. If men do not give when they have 
money, they certainly will not give at all. And to give 
regularly as we receive is the only proper way to make 
benevolence a means of grace to us. To make pro- 
vision in one's will for the devotion of wealth to God 
is not sufficient. t The heart must be constantly cul- 
tivated by perpetual offerings. There is a special pro- 
priety in making such offerings on the Sabbath day. 
The act is then connected with worship, and .becomes 
an act of devotion. It is done nnto Jesus. At least 
the benevolence must be stated, systematic, regular, 
or this command of the apostle will not be fully 
obeyed. It must not be left to impulse, for giving en- 
tirely from impulse is only another name for gratifying 
self. This Paul would guard against. The matter of 
their beneficence must not be controlled by his persona] 
presence nor by pathetic pictures of the needs of the 
suffering saints at Jerusalem. True, he might have 
obtained a larger collection in this particular case had 
9 



130 AT THE THRESHOLD. 

he taken that course, but he sought rather to estab- 
lish a habit of benevolence upon principles which 
would be practicable for the Church in every age. 
The fact that somebody will suffer if w r e do not give, 
is not the best reason for giving. The Scriptures do 
not base their appeal for beneficence upon the dis- 
tresses of others. There are higher and better reasons. 
They are found in our obligations to Christ who 
"though he was rich, yet, for our sakes, he became 
poor;" in the fact that we have already given " our 
own selves to the Lord," involving the gift of all re- 
quired of us or needed from us ; in the necessity of 
proving to ourselves and to the world the sincerity of 
our love ; in the absolute necessity of cultivating our- 
selves in one of the cardinal graces ; in the duty of 
acknowledging God as the author of all our blessings, 
and in the privilege of devoutly making love-offer- 
ings to him who hath " loved us unto death" If pro- 
fessedly Christian people would but recognize and act 
upon these reasons for beneficence, the Church would 
not be disgraced by so frequent appeals to lower 
motives. 

Observe also the command is to all alike, the poor 
as well as the rich. " As God hath prospered us," 
wrongs nobody. The rule is exactly adjusted to 
every body's abilities. The greatest charities and 
Church enterprises are maintained by the confluence 
of small and constant streams of beneficence. The 
excellence of the rule is seen in the fact that it unites 
the hearts of the poor and the rich, and conveys to 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 131 

each class alike the blessings of giving. God does 
not seek to impose a burden, but rather to confer an 
inestimable privilege, and shall the poor be denied any 
privilege accorded to the rich? The divine law of 
beneficence puts it in the power of the poor to lay up 
as much treasure in heaven, or, in other words, to sac- 
rifice as much, to express as much gratitude, to show 
as high an appreciation of obligations and benefits as 
the rich. The widow's mite, dropped from the skinny 
hand of poverty, is often more to Christ than the 
princely gift from the jeweled fingers of opulence. 
The bane of benevolence and Church enterprise is, 
ivaiting for the rich. Let no steward or trustee stand 
before a poor widow and deny her the privilege of 
making a love offering to the ' ' God of the widow and 
the fatherless." 

What right has any one who has never gone hun- 
gry, nor suffered for Christ's sake, nor practiced self- 
denial that he may help God's cause, to talk of being 
too poor to give any thing? 

The following examples will serve to illustrate how 
perfectly practicable is this apostolic rule for both 
poor and rich : " A shoemaker being asked how he 
contrived to give so much, replied that it was easily 
done by obeying St. Paul's precept in 1 Cor. xvi, 2 : 
' Upon the first day of the week let every one of you 
lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.' 'I 
earn/ said he, ' one day with another about a dollar 
a day, and I can, without inconvenience to myself or 
family, lay by. five cents of this sum for charitable 



132 



AT THE THRESHOLD. 



purposes ; the amount being thirty cents a week. 
My wife takes in sewing and washing, and earns 
something like two dollars a week, and she lays by 
ten cents of that. My children each of them earn a 
shilling or two, and are glad to contribute their penny ; 
so that altogether we lay by us in store forty cents a 
week. And if we have been unusually prospered we 
contribute something more. The weekly amount is 
deposited every Sunday morning in a box kept for 
that purpose, and reserved for future use. Thus, by 
these small earnings, we have learned that it is more 
blessed to give than to receive. The yearly amount 
saved in this way is about twenty-five dollars; and I 
distribute this among the various benevolent societies, 
according to the best of my judgment.' " 

The biography of eminently pious and useful men 
since the Reformation shows that great numbers of 
them have recognized the obligation statedly to devote 
a portion of their income to charitable uses. Lord 
Chief-justice Hale, Eev. Dr. Hammond, Baxter, Dod- 
dridge, and others regularly gave a tenth; Dr. Watts 
a fifth; Mrs. Rowe one-half. Rev. John Wesley, when 
his income was thirty pounds, lived on twenty-eight 
and gave two; and when his income rose to sixty 
pounds, and afterwards to one hundred and twenty, 
he still lived on twenty-eight, and gave all the re- 
mainder. Mr. Nathaniel R. Cobb, a merchant con- 
nected with the Baptist Church in Boston, in 1821, 
at the age of twenty-three, drew up and subscribed 
the following covenant, to which he faithfully ad- 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 133 

hered till, on his death-bed, he praised God that by 
acting according to it he had given in charity more 
than forty thousand dollars : 

"By the grace of God, I will never be worth more than 
$50,000. 

"By the grace of God, I will give one-fourth of the net 
profits of my business to charitable and religious uses. 

"If I am ever worth $20,000 I will give one-half of my 
net profits ; and if I am ever worth $30,000 I will give 
three-fourths; and the whole after $50,000. So help me 
God, or give to a more faithful steward, and set me aside. 

"N. R. Cobb." 

Reader make up your mind before God, in the 
light of his truth, what your whole duty is in this im- 
portant matter, and then fearlessly do it. You have 
nothing to lose but every thing to gain by such a 
course. "Take heed and beware of eoveteousness." 

Systematic beneficence carries Christ as a sanctify- 
ing personality into the counting-room and the work- 
shop, and makes him an actual partner in business, 
sweetening all toil and care, and enriching the soul 
with his daily benediction. 

In nature there is the strictest economy. Every 
resource is utilized, every force is, wisely directed, un- 
til she comes to blossoms and fruitage, and then she 
is absolutely profligate of blessings and benefits all for 
us. Let us thus be honest, industrious, frugal, sav- 
ing, that these may "abound unto the riches of our 
liberality" towards God. 



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